Seventh Year
by Riyan
Summary: Having killed Voldemort in only one summer, Harry goes back for his seventh year at Hogwarts. Only to find that he is rooming with Draco Malfoy. Eventual HPDM
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Seventh Year

**Author name: **Riyan  
**Category:** Humor  
**Keywords:** Draco Harry Slash  
**Rating: **M  
**Spoilers:** SS/PS, CoS, PoA, GoF, OotP, HBP  
**Summary: **What would have happened if Harry had found all the horcruxes and ended it all in one summer? School, right? Eventual HP/DM  
**DISCLAIMER:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.  
**Author notes: **I realise I've just started three new stories at the same time without ending the last one, but I work best this way. Concentrating on several stories at once tends to give me more inspiration, because what won't work for one, tends to work for another. So yes, I hope you like this one. Unlike the other two, I expect it to be quite long. But we'll see how it goes, eh? Enjoy!

...Riyan...

There was a Seventh Year year meeting in the Great Hall on the first day of the school year. It was strange and strained. Dumbledore was gone. No one knew what to do. They sat at their house tables silently, looking around wildly at all the people surrounding them. Harry was among them, as quiet as the rest.

He had acquired a new scar over the summer. It was on his left shoulder blade; a long, thin, twisting line of healed skin. He hadn't shown it to anybody yet. He didn't want them to worry, but every now and again, it would twinge. On cold mornings it was sometimes difficult to move his left arm when he first woke up.

He had gotten it when he had killed Voldemort. Not from killing Voldemort, but from Lucius Malfoy's rapier. Malfoy had snuck up behind Harry during the final battle and struck him in a fit of rage as the Dark Lord fell. Ironically, this saved Harry's life as Voldemort's magic flowed through him and the sword, killing Lucius instantly.

And so Harry had come back to school for his final year, despite saying that he wouldn't. He didn't know why he was back, it just felt like the natural thing to do. He had nothing else to do anyway, and he couldn't get into the Ministry without his NEWTs. Scrimgeour had been adamant about that.

"It's not fair on everyone else if you get to work in the Ministry just because you're Harry Potter. Go show us you're worthy of a place here, academically that is. We know you're a great wizard. We just need to be fair on everyone else. So go and get your grades, Harry."

And so there he was, sitting in the Great Hall, feeling surreal.

No one looked anyone else in the eye. They just stared around at each other, looking away quickly if they happened to catch eyes.

Many people had returned to Hogwarts this year, even those whose parents had taken them out of school during the sixth year. Voldemort was gone. The world was safe again. All thanks to Harry, at whom many of the stares were directed.

When he looked up at them though, they turned away, almost ashamed to have been caught looking. They knew he hated it when people stared at him. Only one gaze remained. And it was not one of admiration. It was one of hate.

Harry could feel the icy grey eyes boring into him, but he refused to meet their gaze. He knew Malfoy blamed him for his father's death. 'Well, let him think that,' Harry thought. 'He killed Dumbledore, or at least tried to.'

Snape was back too. As it turned out, he'd never meant to kill Dumbledore. He'd been held by an Unbreakable Oath. He'd ended up giving himself up. He'd said he didn't care what they did to him. He'd been past caring. He'd betrayed the one man he'd always been faithful and it had destroyed him. The ministry tried every truth test and potion they had and knew on him, only to find he was telling the truth.

So they had released him and he had come crawling back to Hogwarts. The new Headmaster, Remus Lupin, took him back, if slightly grudgingly.

Snape wasn't the man he'd used to be. He was like a lion whose teeth and claws had been taken away. He was docile, tame, dead inside. He was a shadow of his former self. He even washed his hair now.

Remus Lupin had been asked back to school to be headmaster. Several parents had complained, but letters were sent out to everyone, explaining the decision and the complaints had promptly stopped.

Dear Parent or Guardian,

As you will be aware, we have acquired a new Headmaster since the tragic demise of Professor Dumbledore. Before you object to him on the grounds of what you have heard in the Daily Prophet, give him a chance.

Remus Lupin is indeed a werewolf, but there is no chance that he could hurt your children. In the last half of this century, the Wolfsbane Potion was developed which allows transformation into the wolf to occur but for the individual to keep their sane minds while they transform. This means that he is safe to be around and will not attack any person.

He is also, we feel, the most suitable person for the job. He was one of Dumbledore's most trusted colleagues in the Order of the Phoenix and was the man who killed Fenrir Greyback, the infamous werewolf. He has always had a deep love of Hogwarts and it is for this reason more than anything else that we feel hi is the most suitable person for the job. We do hope you agree and continue sending your child to Hogwarts.

Yours Sincerely,

The Hogwarts Staff

So far Lupin had done little to the school, but now, with the year meeting, his first idea for school unity was coming into play.

The students had no clue what was coming. They thought it was a special talk about what happened over the summer. Everyone knew of course, they'd read it in the paper, but they thought this would just be the un-media-ed version.

Harry was on edge. In a way he wanted people to know what happened, but in a way he didn't. He didn't want people to think he was special. He'd just done what he had to do. And it was done now. He didn't want to think about it anymore.

He was glad his second scar was hidden under his shirt. One visible scar was quite enough. He didn't want to remind the world that it was him that had saved them. Because he hadn't done it for them. He'd done it for himself. So that he wouldn't be killed. It had been Voldemort or himself and he'd chosen himself.

It was strange being back now. He'd received many stares throughout the sorting feast the night before. It had had annoyed him, but he knew it was inevitable. The stares would stop sooner or later. He'd go back to being just Harry Potter. He'd still be special, he always was and would be, but they would get used to him again. He just wished it would happen sooner rather than later.

His thoughts were interrupted by the entrance of the teachers and Lupin at the rear of the hall. The students all shifted in their seats. They were finally going to find out what they had been called here for. The Hall stilled again when Lupin reached the top of the hall and turned to face them all.

"Welcome!" he said brightly. Harry blinked. His tone was too cheery to then launch into a speech about Voldemort. He had something else up his sleeve.

"How are you all today?" Lupin asked. A few people muttered 'fine' in a noncommittal way.

"I see you're not quite awake yet. Well, that's a pity because I have a very exciting thing to announce!" It was then that the whispers began.

"Exciting?

"Yeah, we know _he's_ dead."

"What is he on about?"

"He's even more insane than Dumbledore was."

"Settle down, settle down! Let me finish! We are going to try a project designed to bring the school closer together, and we're starting it with you!" Lupin opened his arms wide.

"Eh?" This was Ron. Several people laughed.

"Well, as I'm sure you're all aware, the house system creates voids within the student body We're trying to get rid of some of those. School unity and all that." A hand went up. "Yes Ernie?"

'Beg pardon, sir, but why?"

"Good question. There are several reasons. One, I remember big house rivalries from my own time at school and how much they affected my school life. Two, because Madame Pomfrey is tired of treating students who have been injured due to these rivalries. And three because we think this will be fun!" he grinned boyishly. "And we think that everyone needs a bit of fun after last year." There was murmured assent. "So, onto what we've planned! Professor McGonagall?"

McGonagall stood up.

"Thank you Professor. Yes, welcome back boys and girls, though I'm not sure you can still be called that." She smiled. "Right, so. Before this project really gets going, we need to you fill out these questionnaires." She flicked her wand and papers flew off the staff table and out to all the students. Harry reached up and caught his while it was still in the air.

"Will you do that now please?" Lupin asked. Quills appeared on the table in the way the food did at dinner. Harry picked one up and looked down at his questionnaire.

Name: Harry Potter

Sex: Male x Female _

House: Gryffindor x Slytherin _ Hufflepuff _ Ravenclaw _

Hobbies: hanging out with friends, listening to music, etc.

Sports: Quidditch

Bed time (approx) on school night: 8-9 _ 9-10 _ 10-11 x 11 plus _

Bedtime (approx) on weekend: 9-10 _ 10-11 _ 11-12 _ 12 x

Waking time (approx) school day: 5-6 _ 6-7 _ 7-8 x

Waking time (approx) weekend: 7-8 _ 8-8 _ 9-10 x 10-11 _ 11 plus _

Single: Yes x No_

Party x or Study _?

Anything else: Uh. I defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?

"Send your questionnaires back to the front when you're finished with them," McGonagall said. Several pieces of parchment flew across the Great Hall up to the staff table. Lupin picked them up and put them in a glittering blue box that had appeared on the table. Harry picked up his parchment and banished it across the room to the table. Into the box it went. When everybody had finished and all the papers were in the box, Lupin tapped it with his wand.

"This box is now sorting through your questionnaires and sorting you into roommates," Lupin said to the watching students. A ripple of murmurs spread through the hall. The blue box glittered on the table in front of Lupin. Roommates? But they already had roommates.

"You are probably wondering why you cannot keep the roommates you already have," Lupin said, voicing the question on everybody's minds. "Well, you will only have one roommate. And they won't necessarily be in your house. You and your roommate will stay in the same room, and there will be three other rooms in your building. These buildings are located away from the main castle. We cleared a section of space from the Forbidden Forest to build them. These houses are like normal houses and therefore you are no longer required to eat in the Great Hall apart from for special occasions.

"Each house has been assigned a house elf so you don't _have_ to cook if you don't want to. These special houses will only be open to the seventh years, and if this experiment works, we will continue this for the seventh years to come, as a privilege." The blue box interrupted at this point with a loud bang.

"Ah, the sorting has finished," Lupin said. "Everybody stand up and when i call your names, I want you to go and stand with your new roommate." The box lid opened and spat out two papers.

"Hermione Granger and Padma Patil."

"Ron Weasley and Ernie MacMillan."

"Seamus Finnegan and Blaise Zabini." Mutters broke out. A Gryffindor and a Slytherin? But Seamus and Blaise went and stood together with little complaint.

"Lavender Brown and Pansy Parkinson."

"Parvati Patil and Hannah Abbott."

"Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy."

"What?" Harry cried.

"Oh hell no!"This was Malfoy.

"Boys!" Lupin said loudly. "The box has paired you. I'm afraid there's nothing you can do. Now go and stand with the others in your pair." Harry reluctantly walked over to the blonde. The boy was staring daggers at him.

"I hate you," he hissed as soon as Harry was in earshot.

"Shut up. I'd rather room with a blast-ended skrewt than with you," Harry replied coldly.

"Oh, come off it, Pothead. I'm not that bad."

"Really? I hadn't noticed."

"Fuck off, Potter."

"Fuck off yourself." They glowered at each other until the rest of the students had been paired off.

"Now, Room Keys will be distributed and we will all walk over to your new houses!" Lupin said enthusiastically. Keys flew out from the staff table and each student reached up and caught his or her own. Harry looked down at his. The keychain said Llewellyn 2. He frowned. He had no clue what that meant.

Lupin beckoned to the other teachers and they filed through the hall again, followed this time by the students. They were excited. New housing! They wondered what it would be like. Most of them were confused by the names on their roomkeys, but they were too eager to see the houses to talk about it. Less talking meant faster walking.

They exited the Main Building in a line, and then walked as a group to the houses. The students could not see the houses yet, but the teachers seemed to know where they were going. Some people were muttering excitedly amongst themselves.

Suddenly they rounded a bend in the forest and the houses came into view. Everyone gasped. They were miniature castles, six of them, all spaced a ways apart around a big central green space.

"The name of your building is on your room key. The six buildings are Wronski, Griffiths, Porscoff, Llewellyn, Plumton and Broadmoor. Have fun!" And with that, the teachers turned and walked away, leaving the students standing awkwardly in front of the buildings which would be their homes for the rest of the year.

Seamus was the first to move. He was terribly excited about having a new bedroom, and new rooms to party in. He also wanted to know who else would be in his new house, Llewellyn. It sounded like the best house. It was the only one with _two_ double Ls after all. He began to walk over to the houses, and people, seeing him, began to follow.

Harry walked reluctantly towards Llewellyn. He was not looking forward to sharing a room with _Malfoy_. Why did the box pair them together? Didn't it know they hated each other? Harry ground his teeth in frustration.

The door to the house was open when he arrived and his new housemates were already inside. In addition to The Blonde Egotist (Malfoy) there were The Ex-Boyfriend (Seamus), That Guy in the Corner I Don't Really Know Except That He Was a Slytherin And I Heard a Rumour that the Blonde Egotist Slept With Him (Blaise), The Obnoxious Hufflepuff Who Didn't Believe in Expelliarmus (Zacharias Smith) and Neville, The Boy Who Likes To "Dance" With Himself and Comes a Little Too Loudly. It was looking to be one hell of a year. And not in the good sense.


	2. Chapter 2

I haven't updated in an age and for this I apologise. It was NaNoWriMo in November (wikipedia it if you don't know it), and I managed to finish it on top of Physics Coursework, College Apps, Dance Rehearsals, Rowing and Choir. It's complete rubbish, but it's at least 50,000 words of complete rubbish which i hope at some point to turn into a decent novel. and maybe publish it! Who knows.

Anyhow enough of my rambling and on with the story.

...Riyan...

Seamus beamed around at them all.

"This'll be exciting won't it?" he exclaimed brightly. Harry scowled, but Neville nodded.

"Whose room is whose?" Neville asked. Seamus shrugged and said,

"I guess the numbers on our keys tell us our room numbers. And I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm going to go check out my room!" He hurried up the stairs. Blaise shrugged and followed. Neville and Zacharias both looked at each other for a moment before hurrying away too, leaving Harry and Malfoy alone in the Entrance Hall.

"Well, I'm going to find our room," Harry said. "Come if you want to."

"Fine." And they traipsed up the stairs in silence.

The house, as it turned out, was much bigger on the inside than it appeared on the outside.

"Undectable Extension Charm," Harry heard Malfoy mutter. He just thought '_Tardis_'. The bedrooms were located in three of the four towers, the last being a large study with six desks. Harry and Malfoy's room was decorated in blue, a neutral colour for the both of them. Their luggage was already in the room, sitting in the middle of the floor.

A brief argument ensued over who would get which bed, both of them wanting first one, then the other, then not wanting the one that the other wanted and so forth. It didn't really matter which bed either of them got, they were both exactly the same, it was the winning of the argument that they both wanted.

There was a heavy silence in the room once the argument subsided and neither of them wanted to break it. Harry began to unpack his things and put them in his closet and bedside table. Malfoy watched him for a bit before waving his wand and putting all of his things away in one go.

Harry scowled but continued to work by hand. It felt more natural that way.

"Why do it by hand?" Malfoy asked after a while. Harry shrugged.

"Why do you care anyway?" Harry replied.

"I don't."

"Then why ask?" Harry ground out. The Blonde Egotist was beginning to annoy him already. Harry scowled as he realised that Malfoy was, in fact, right about unpacking. He pulled out his wand, waved it and then sat down heavily on the bed, his things in their rightful places.

"I was bored," he said by way of explanation.

"Good for you." He lay back on his bed, staring up at the navy blue canopy. There were little silver stars stitched into the material.

"And good for you for coming round to my way of thinking," Malfoy smirked.

"Whatever."

They were interrupted at this point by the arrival of a house elf. He was wearing a Hogwarts towel as a toga and a pair of oversized, children's Wellington boots. The wellies were pink with yellow and green polka dots. Mismatched socks poked out from the top of these, clashing nicely with the boots.

"Misters Malfoy and Potter," said Dobby in his high, squeaky voice. "You are requested down in the dining room." Dobby bowed low and then disapparated with a loud crack.

Harry looked at Malfoy who shrugged and left the room. Harry followed and they made their way down to the dining room where the rest of their housemates were waiting for them. Seamus motioned for them to sit at the remaining two chairs at the table which they did. He then began to speak.

"I have decided," he said." That we should be the party house. This entails throwing the best parties of all of the houses and living a life of late homework, drinking and fun. Do you all agree?"

Harry grinned and nodded. So did, to his surprise, Malfoy, Zabini and Smith. Neville looked a bit unsure, but nodded anyway. He didn't want to be the odd one out.

"Great!" cried Seamus. "Let's start now!" He snapped his fingers and Dobby appeared carrying several bottles of alcohol and six glasses. A cheer went up as Seamus began levitating the bottles and pouring drinks in the air. When everyone had a glass, Harry stood up.

"I propose a toast!" Seamus and Blaise cheered. Malfoy quirked an eyebrow at him. "To Llewellyn. We are the best."

"Obviously," Malfoy drawled and instead of getting annoyed at being interrupted, Harry just laughed.

"Of course we're the best," he continued. "We're the party house. We have the most fun because we've got the only REAL blond and everyone knows they have the most fun!"

"Wouldn't you like to know, Potter," Malfoy smirked. Harry glared at him for a moment before continuing.

"But yes. Here's to us!" And they drank on it. Harry grimaced as the burn hit his throat, but swallowed the whole thing in one. Another cheer went up and glasses were refilled.

Now that the toasts had been started, everybody wanted to make one. Seamus toasted Lupin's "bloody amazing idea" to put them in new houses. Smith toasted Seamus for hosting the first party. Neville toasted plants because he couldn't think of anything else and Blaise toasted the world for existing as he was already a bit passed it and it was the only thing he could think of in his inebriated state. Then Malfoy stood up.

"To Potter, thanks for ending the reign of hell. May you live long and psht. Who cares." He smirked and Harry burst out laughing. "Seriously though. Thanks for ending it all." He gave Harry a funny look which Harry couldn't read.

Harry frowned to himself. He had thought that Malfoy hated him. How could he not? Harry had killed his father. He internally shook his head. This was not the time to think about that. Maybe it was just that Malfoy was drunk. "To Harry." And they drank again.

Once the toasts had finished, Seamus stood up again.

"Now, to traverse the house and party all around!" And he led the charge up the stairs and round the corridors and back down the stairs to the living room where he promptly started the dancing.

……………………………………………………………..

Midway though the evening Harry found himself in a swimming pool. He had no idea how he had gotten there, or how it had gotten there, or why he was there, but he was happy to be there, so he didn't care. He had lost his other housemates a few minutes ago, but had stumbled upon the pool and jumped in, clothes and all. Now he was lying on his back in the water, watching the ceiling and smiling to himself. His head was spinning slightly and the room was spinning even more, but the pool played a slight part in that.

He heard a splash behind him and righted himself to see Malfoy standing in the shallow end, still fully clothed too and dripping with water.

"Nice night for it," Malfoy drawled. "Though why we still have clothes on is beyond me. Who ever heard of swimming in _clothes_." He began to undo his tie.

"Why're you doing that?" Harry asked, swimming towards Malfoy.

"Eh? It's comfier. Here, let me show you," he said, wading towards Harry.

"I know how to take off a tie," Harry said and promptly took his off to prove it. Malfoy laughed.

"Tie, maybe, but can you take off shirts?" Malfoy challenged, unbuttoning his own.

"I sure as hell can! But the _real_ question is whether or not you can take off trousers, Malfoy."

"Hah, of course I can. In fact, I can take off my trousers in an epic fashion." He struck a pose, fell over and came up again, spurting water. "I meant to do that." Harry laughed.

"Come on then, epic trousers boy. Off they come."

"Only if yours come off too."

"I'm getting there," Harry snapped. He was having difficulty with his buttons. "I hate buttons. They should go die. In a hole," he muttered. Malfoy frowned at him, but Harry ignored him and ducked underwater in order to pull the shirt over his head. When he surfaced again, Malfoy was squirming around, attempting to pull his trousers off. Harry quickly began to fumble with his belt. He could win this race.

Malfoy straightened up, holding his trousers aloft.

"I win," he smirked and began swimming away. Harry finally freed himself of his own trousers and threw them to the side. It was better, he had to admit, swimming with only underwear on even though he'd lost the competition. Second argument of sorts that he'd lost that night with Malfoy. He'd been the one who had given up on who got what bed. Third argument if you counted putting away his clothes magically as opposed to the Muggle way.

Presently he became tired of swimming and climbed out of the pool. Malfoy was floating face down in the deep end. Wait. Face down? Harry dove back into the pool and over to the unconscious boy, dragging him over to the shallow end and hauling him out of the pool. He ran over to where his robes lay and pulled out his wand.

"Accio water," he shouted and pointed at Malfoy. A fine stream of water flew out of Malfoy's open mouth. He coughed, and sat up, still sputtering.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I saved you."

"From what? The scary waterslide of doom?" Malfoy asked, his tone laden with sarcasm. Harry could not fathom how Malfoy could manage sarcasm so quickly after a near death experience.

"You were drowning," Harry snapped.

"Oh. Well, thanks." Malfoy stood and walked out of the room, leaving Harry standing in his underwear feeling stupid.

Harry shrugged to himself after a moment and left the room too. He didn't bother with his clothes. He could get them later. Plus, if Malfoy could walk around in just his underwear, so could he. Because he was the saviour of the world and he could do whatever he damn pleased.

Plus, he felt like superman at that moment, though that was probably the single malt talking.

He found Seamus and Blaise playing strip pool in the library after a few minutes of wandering the house. Neville was watching from one of the armchairs by the fire, one leg over the arm of the chair and slumped right down into the pillows.

"Hey guys," Harry said. Seamus raised a hand in hello. Neville nodded at him. Blaise did nothing as he was concentrating on his shot. There was a click and he pocketed one of the striped balls.

"That's it, Finnegan. Off with the shirt," he grinned. Seamus laughed but obligingly began to undo his buttons. Neville spluttered from the chair. He was rapidly turning red.

"What's wrong, Longbottom? Never seen a naked chest before?" Blaise asked.

"No, I have. I mean, look at Harry!" Everyone turned and took in the fact that Harry was standing there in his boxers. "But I've never seen Seamus take off his shirt so…" he struggled to find the right words, "sexually." He buried his head in his arms, his beetroot red forehead showing above the folds of his shirt. Blaise laughed and picked up his pool cue again.

Seamus tilted his head and looked at Blaise as though seeing him for the first time. He pointed at the pool cue and said,

"Phallic object," before laughing madly. Harry laughed too, then decided to go and put some fresh clothes on, most importantly dry underwear. He waved goodbye to the trio in the library and wandered off to his room.

Yeah, not much of a cliffhanger, but I haven't the foggiest clue what's going to happen next. So, it maaaay be a while before I next update this. (Apologies in advance!) Hope you enjoyed it. Sorry if it strayed OOC, I'm working on OCness. Malfoy is hard to do. I can't do mean, though I can do sarcasm. Sometimes. (such as, I wasn't in anyone's pants last night! Only Katherine's and that's because I was wearing them) although, that's more wit than anything else. I may have to use that line somewhere in this. Just for kicks and giggles.

Anyhow. Hope you enjoyed this chapter of the story. Next up... Well, something possibly resembling a plot. Maybe. If you're lucky. R & R because otherwise I forget to write and your reviews make me feel guilty that I'm not working and therefore make me work!

...Riyan...


	3. Chapter 3

Oh god. I have just realised that I haven't updated in about six months. And I feel terrible. And I have lots of excuses ranging from A Levels to College Apps to hospital visits to unknown illnesses. But that's not the point. The point is, I'm finally updating. Thank god. Updates for my other stories are on their way, if somewhat slowly. After NaNoWriMo, I've had a bit of writer's block... But they should, fingers crossed, be up soonish. But on with the story!

...Riyan...

* * *

"Hey," Harry said as he walked into his room that he shared with Malfoy. The Blond Egotist was wrapped up in a blanket on his bed and drinking whiskey from a mug. Malfoy made a non committal noise and did not look up. Harry rolled his eyes and walked over to his closet. He reached in, grabbed a shirt and put it on.

"Where are your other clothes?" Malfoy asked. Harry looked up, surprised that The Blonde Egotist had spoken to him.

"With yours in the pool room. And by that I mean the swimming pool room, not the room with the pool table."

"The room with the pool table is the library, idiot," Malfoy said. Harry ignored him and took out a pair of boxers. He looked pointedly over at the Blonde Egotist and Malfoy looked away. Harry pulled off his wet boxers and put the fresh ones on quickly. He felt awkward due to the fact that he was exposing himself in the same room as Malfoy. Not that Malfoy cared. He was busy nursing his mug of whiskey.

"How much of that have you had?" Harry asked.

"Not enough," Malfoy said. Harry laughed.

"When's enough?" he asked.

"When I stop seeing you as an annoying twerp."

"Gee, thanks for the complement," Harry said, now pulling on a dry pair of trousers. Malfoy ignored him again. That was nothing new. "Wait, you rate your drunkenness on me?" Harry asked. Malfoy shook his head.

"It was one of many examples. The others include: When Pansy starts to look hot. When Crabbe and Goyle are no longer dull. When I consider having sex with Blaise. You get the picture." Harry nodded.

"Well, have fun with that," Harry said." I'm off to see what the others are up to." And with that he left the room.

"Potter! Wait for me!" A yell came from the room and Harry stopped. Malfoy came out, wrapped in the towel and swaying slightly, still clutching his mug. "Whoa," he muttered to himself, swaying slightly. "This is strong stuff." He shook his head, grimaced slightly and then began following Harry down the hall.

Harry turned around in time to see Malfoy trip over a fold in the carpet and fall flat on his face, spilling his whiskey everywhere in the process.

"Oh for fuck's sake!" Malfoy cried, making Harry jump. "What the hell's wrong with me?"

"You're drunk?" Harry asked.

"Fuck off."

"Okay," Harry said and turned back down the hall again.

"No, don't really go, you twat. Come and help me. I can't be bothered to move." Harry laughed. Malfoy moved in a way that could have been a shrug. "S'true."

"Accio whiskey," Harry said, picking up the mug and waving his wand over it. The brown alcohol seeped out of the rug and back into the mug.

"Oh, cheers," Malfoy said, reaching for it.

"Are you seriously going to drink that?" Harry asked. "It's been on the floor!"

"No, idiot, I'm going to go rinse it down the sink and get some more." He pulled himself to his feet, clutching his towel and the mug, and then hurried off in the direction of the bathroom. Harry groaned and ran a hand through his hair. It was still wet and stood up stiff where his hand left it. He debated for a moment whether to leave the blond and find the others before his conscience got the better of him and he followed Malfoy in the direction of the bathroom.

"You didn't have to follow me," Malfoy said as Harry entered the room behind him. Harry shrugged. "What? Are you actually worried about me?" Malfoy asked. "Or am I just another sad soul to save." Harry said nothing. He would not rise to the bait. "Is it that? Or do you need another dose of heroicrack? Can't go for so long with being the hero? Without being the centre of attention?" Before Harry realised what he was doing, he brought his fist up and swung it at the unsuspecting blond.

There was a crash as Malfoy dropped the mug. Whiskey and broken china scattered over the floor, but this went unnoticed by the two boys who were hitting, scratching and kicking every piece of each other that they could find. Harry winced as Malfoy's fist connected with his jaw, wrenching it out of its socket. He retaliated by kneeing the blond in the groin. Malfoy doubled over, coughing and Harry shoved him against the nearest wall.

"Take it back," Harry hissed, wincing as his jaw moved and bringing his arm up and pinning Malfoy to the wall by his neck. Malfoy glared at him.

"Take what back?" he spat.

"That I'm a glory lover," Harry shouted. He could feel the blood pounding in his head and was finding it difficult to think straight over his anger and the pain in his jaw. The alcohol didn't help either.

"But you are," Malfoy said. Harry pushed him harder against the wall. "Aren't you?" he asked in a small voice. There was a small hint of fear.

"No, and I would have thought that you of all people would know that. You're the only one who doesn't treat me like I'm a hero."

"What? Does that upset you, Harry? Would you prefer it if I acknowledged you for the hero you are?" Malfoy asked. His tone was laden with sarcasm.

"No, I wouldn't. I don't want to be known as the bloody hero. I had this role thrust upon me. I didn't want it." He shoved Malfoy again, feeling slightly triumphant as he saw the other boy wince in pain. He pressed their foreheads together and glared at the blond. "Look at me," he hissed. The silver eyes met his and Harry shivered. They were full of venom.

"Let me go," Malfoy said quietly.

"Not until you take it back," Harry replied, equally as softly. Malfoy narrowed his eyes.

"Fine, you're not a bloody glory lover. I get it, you don't like the fame. Now get the fuck off of me." Harry stepped back. Malfoy's towel dropped to the floor. In the confusion he had let go of it and Harry had been keeping it up by leaning on it.

Harry quickly averted his eyes.

"Jesus, Malfoy," he said. "Why aren't you wearing anything?"

"Because you don't wear things under towels, idiot. And I didn't expect to be moving," Malfoy said. He bent down, retrieved the towel and wrapped it around himself.

"Why didn't you change before we left the room?"

"Because you left without me." Malfoy sounded a bit like a petulant child as he said this. There was a small frown on his face. "I didn't have time." Harry didn't know what to say. He reached up and tried to fix his jaw back in place to fill the silence. He was rather amused by the quick change Malfoy made from being angry to acting pitiful. He supposed it was the whiskey.

"Uh, well, I'm going to the library," he said after finally hearing the satisfying click of his jaw realigning itself. "I think that's where the others are. Put some clothes on and come join us." Malfoy frowned for a moment and then nodded slowly. Harry left the bathroom and began to walk down the corridor. He heard the bathroom door open behind him.

"Potter?" Malfoy called softly. Harry turned around. "Can you wait for me?"

"Why?" Harry asked.

"I can't think straight," Malfoy said. "I need you to stop me jumping Blaise or doing something like that."

"Have you stopped seeing me as an annoying twerp then?" Harry asked. Malfoy nodded.

"So will you wait for me?" Malfoy asked. Harry sighed, but nodded. Malfoy moved his face into something which could have been a grateful smile and hurried past Harry to their room.

Harry sighed again and began pacing the hallway. His head was spinning from all of the alcohol he had had that night and he stumbled slightly in his pacing. He wondered vaguely what this year would be like. What exactly would they do? He felt like he no longer had a purpose now that Voldemort was gone.

But then again, he could finally be just a normal student, not one who was desperately trying to learn things to keep himself alive for longer. He no longer had to fear that things would go wrong at school and that Voldemort would be behind them. He could just learn for learning's sake and have fun like the rest of his schoolmates. And these houses invited a lot of fun.

His pacing was interrupted by Malfoy stumbling back out of their room. He was wearing Harry's pyjamas. They were slightly too big for him and covered with snitches which danced across the red tartan background. Before Harry could say anything, Malfoy said,

"Yes, I know I'm wearing your pyjamas, but they were on the radiator and looked warm. In fact, they are warm." Malfoy nodded sagely. "Although red _really _isn't my colour." Harry rolled his eyes and began walking down the corridor. Malfoy ran after him to catch up, tripping slightly on the pyjamas as they were too long for him.

They found the other still playing pool in the library. Seamus and Blaise had somehow cajoled Neville into playing too and they were all in their underwear. Zacharias the Obnoxious Hufflepuff was also there. He had taken Neville's place in the armchair and looked rather uncomfortable with his knees drawn right up to his chin.

"Hey Harry!" Seamus exclaimed as Harry and Malfoy entered the room. "You're just in time! Blaise is about to take his underwear off!" Harry raised his eyebrows and looked questioningly at Blaise.

"No way, it's Seamus who's getting naked first," he said. "There's no way he's going to get this shot." Harry glanced down at the table. Only the black ball was left.

"Ah, but Blaise," Seamus said, kneeling down to look at the ball from a different angle. "You're forgetting one crucial thing." He stood up again and sized up the ball again.

"And what's that, Finnegan?" Blaise asked as Seamus lined up his shot. Seamus glanced up at Blaise for a moment before turning his attention back to the 8 ball. He drew his pool cue back and then hit the white ball towards the 8. It bounced off the wall next to it, sped across the table and towards the correct pocket. Harry unconsciously held his breath. For a moment it looked like it was going in at the wrong angle, but then it fell smoothly into the pocket.

"The luck of the Irish," Seamus said with a smirk as he stood up. "Off they come, Zabini." Blaise cursed.

"Do I really have to?" he asked. Seamus nodded. "Do I have to keep them off?"

"Blaise, quit complaining," Malfoy said. "The entirety of Slytherin has seen your cock. What difference will a few more people make?" All heads turned to look at Malfoy. "Well it's true! Crabbe used to pants him every Monday morning. It became quite the event."

"It was highly annoying is what it was," Blaise said, staring at his feet.

"Didn't you try to run away?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, but he always caught me in the end. One time he caught me in the Entrance Hall. I narrowly escaped school-wide humiliation by diving behind a statue. In the end it was just easier to let him do it in the common room before leaving without putting up too much fuss."

"He sounds like a lovely bloke," said Seamus. "Pity he isn't in our house."

"He didn't come back to school this year," Malfoy said quietly. Everyone looked at him again. "He went missing with his parents over the summer. I heard rumours they relocated to America in order to start a new life after… well… _you know_." They all nodded, none of them looking at each other.

"Anyhow," said Seamus after a few moments. "Let us not get distracted from the matter at hand. Zabini, take the boxers off!" Blaise scowled. "Or I'll do it for you." Blaise raised an eyebrow.

"Will you now Finnegan?" he asked, a small smirk playing across his face. It reminded Harry of Malfoy. Perhaps it was a Slytherin thing. Or perhaps it was just what Malfoy had liked him to do, Harry figured as he heard Malfoy try to suppress a sharp intake of breath.

"Just hurry up Zabini," Malfoy snapped. There was a note of irritation in his voice. Blaise sighed and dropped his boxers to the floor. Harry glanced down briefly before turning his attention elsewhere. It wasn't like he'd never seen one of them before.

He glanced over at Malfoy. The blond was ignoring the sight in front of him and examining his nails instead, which was a complete contrast to Neville who had gone as red as a tomato. The difference almost made Harry want to laugh. He stopped himself though in case Blaise thought Harry was laughing at him.

"Put them back on, Zabini," Malfoy said after several awkward seconds had passed. Blaise glanced over at Seamus who nodded.

"That's enough of a forfeit for the moment," Seamus said. Blaise quickly pulled his boxers back up.

"I'll play you again," he said, adjusting his waistband. Seamus shook his head.

"I'm going to bed," the Irish boy announced. "I'm drunk, tired and half naked, so I think now is as good a time as any to call it a day."

"I'm exhausted," Neville agreed, nodding his head.

"You mean to say that Potter and I came downstairs for nothing?" Malfoy asked. He frowned around at them in obvious annoyance. Even in Harry's flannel pyjamas he looked fierce. No one said anything. Neville looked at the floor and wiggled his toes slightly. Seamus glanced over at Blaise who shrugged. "Well, screw this then! Potter, we're leaving." And with that Malfoy stormed out of the room.

All eyes turned on Harry who shrugged bewilderedly.

"I don't get it either," he said before following the blond out of the door.

……………………………………………………………..

When he crossed the threshold of their room, Harry was surprised to find Malfoy doubled up on the bed, laughing.

"Did you see their faces?" he asked through gasps of laughter. Harry nodded. He had no clue what was going on. "Oh, it was high-larious." He rolled over onto his side. "Bloody hell I'm drunk."

"Sorry, but what was funny?" Harry asked. He was still confused.

"Eh? The looks on their faces when I got annoyed at them for not being interesting enough. I find these things funny when I'm completely fucked off my head like this."

"Did you find our fight funny?" Harry asked, flopping down onto his bed. Malfoy stopped laughing.

"No," he said simply. "It wasn't my idea of fun. I have more fun messing with people's heads."

"What, like insulting Ron and Hermione?"

"Among other things," Malfoy said as he swung his legs up onto the bed. Harry felt a flash of anger which he tried to quell. They had been almost getting along a moment ago and it had been better than fighting. He didn't want to be the one to start the verbal sparring again.

"Such as what?" he asked. Malfoy closed his eyes and frowned slightly. He brought his hands up and massaged his temples.

"I don't know," he mumbled after a moment. There was a moment of silence before he continued, "Well, I do know, but I can't do words right now. The room is spinning too much." Harry laughed.

"I know that feeling well," he said. He ran a hand through his hair, tousling the black locks even more than normal. They were still somewhat damp after his encounter with the swimming pool. He looked over at Malfoy who was staring up at the canopy of his bed. No doubt he was watching the silver stars which had a tendency to twinkle. "I'm going to bed," Harry announced after a moment of brief deliberation in his head.

"What?" Malfoy asked, not taking his eyes off of the canopy.

"I'm going to go to bed."

"But you're in bed."

"You know what I mean," Harry snapped, sitting up and pulling his shirt off over his head. Malfoy made a noncommittal noise, still not looking over at Harry which Harry was thankful for as he changed into his pjyama bottoms. He thought vaguely about getting up and brushing his teeth, but the effort of the task overwhelmed him and he flopped back onto his pillows instead.

The pillows felt so good under his head that he almost fell asleep on top of the covers. With one last spurt of exertion, he lifted himself up enough to pull the covers out from beneath him and up over his legs. "G'night," he mumbled to Malfoy.

"Hey Potter, if I bite you in the middle of the night, think nothing of it," Malfoy said. Harry opened his eyes and looked over at the blond. He wasn't sure whether or not Malfoy was joking or not. He sounded serious.

"What?" he asked, pushing his glasses - which he realised with a jolt, were still on - up his nose.

"Oh, nothing. Sleep well." And with that, Malfoy turned the lights out, leaving Harry confused and no longer as ready for sleep as he had been moments before.

* * *

Right. So still not sure where this is taking me. I have a vague idea, but nothing beyond that. Same thing happened with _Summertime..._ so I'm not very worried.

Hopefully I'll be good and update on time, but no promises there. Reviews always help, not that I'm fishing for them, but they do guilt me into working/inspire me to be good with my deadlines. And they give me that happy little feeling of 'wow i'm appreciated.'

Toodles 'til next time!

...Riyan...


	4. Chapter 4

I do realise that I fail at life. And that this has taken almost a year to get finished (just this chapter. Argh.) But to be fair it was a massively busy year. I won't go into details, but bits of it were great and bits of it royally sucked.

But hopefully the next update will take much less time to be completed. I already have ideas, and also have very little to do this summer. So yeah. Anyhow. Enough of my rambling. Enjoy!

...Riyan...

* * *

A pounding headache greeted Harry the next morning. He snapped his eyes closed against the glaring light of morning and rolled over with a groan. He vaguely heard a chuckle from somewhere to the left of him. Or at least he hoped it was a chuckle. It felt like an assault on his headache. Harry frowned into his pillow and then propped himself up on two arms to see who had laughed.

Malfoy was sitting on one of the two armchairs in the room. He grinned when Harry turned to look at him, making him look more feral than friendly. Harry groaned and buried his head back in the pillow.

"Hangover?" Malfoy asked. There was a hint of amusement in his voice. Harry made a noise of assent. The laugh attacked Harry's headache again.

"S'not funny," Harry mumbled, turning his head so that his words would not be lost in the pillow.

"It is when you don't have one," Malfoy said, the grin back in place.

"Ha bleedin' ha," Harry said, rolling away from Malfoy to face the rest of the room. It was spotlessly clean. "Did you tidy up?" He turned his head back to look at the blonde.

"Couldn't sleep," Malfoy said with a shrug.

"What? At all?" Harry asked, wincing as a shock of pain went through his head.

"Do you want a cure for that headache?" Malfoy asked, standing up and walking over to where Harry's bed was. Harry frowned.

"Why? Can you get me one?" he asked suspiciously. Malfoy nodded. "Why would you do that?"

"So I don't have to deal with your whining," Malfoy said after a moment's thought. "Now shut up and close your eyes." Harry nodded and shut out the world. He felt Malfoy's cold hand on his brow and a moment later the pain receded.

"How did you do that?" Harry asked.

"Trade secret," Malfoy said, walking away from Harry's bed.

"How do you even know how to do that? I thought healing wasn't taught until after Hogwarts!"

"I learnt out of necessity," Malfoy said, not looking at Harry.

"What?" Harry asked, sitting up suddenly. Malfoy shook his head.

"I'm not going to discuss this with you. Go back to sleep. It's only seven in the morning." He walked out of the room, leaving Harry sitting dumbfounded on the bed, unsure of what to do. After a few minutes of deliberation, Harry decided to follow the blonde's advice and go back to sleep.

He lay down, turning the words "I learnt out of necessity," over in his head. What did that mean? Did his father abuse him? Or did Voldemort? Harry frowned and buried his head into his pillow. His roommate was such an enigma.

And they no longer hated each other, which was an altogether bizarre experience for Harry. He frowned into his pillow, but the pillow provided no answers. Turning over again, Harry stared up at the canopy of his bed. The stars embroidered into the material twinkled at him.

"You're right," he said to the stars, after a few minutes of watching the twinkling light. "I'm not going to be able to sleep anymore this morning." He sat up and ran a hand through his hair before standing up and leaving the room.

He found Malfoy sitting in the kitchen, nursing a bowl of cereal.

"I thought I told you to go back to sleep," Malfoy said, not looking up from his cereal.

"Yes, well, I don't often do what I'm told. In fact, I _thrive_ on not doing what I'm told," Harry replied. He walked over to the counter and was reaching for one of the cabinet handles when a loud _crack_ reverberated around the kitchen and Dobby appeared. Dobby was dressed in his favourite tea cosy hat and bright yellow shorts, which appeared to have come from a teddy bear of sorts from the way they fitted him.

"What can Dobby get Master Harry?" Dobby asked, grinning up at Harry. Malfoy began to laugh.

"Oh, so you'll help _Potter_, but you won't help _me_? Typical. _I_ have to search for _ten minutes_ to find this measly cereal. He but _reaches_ for a cupboard and _magically _you appear!"

"Dobby didn't hear Master Draco," Dobby said, his bat ears drooping. "You were always very quiet. Dobby remembers it's because you-"

"-I get it Dobby," Malfoy said, staring back down at his cereal. "I'm sorry for snapping at you. I'm just very hungry."

"Of course, Master Draco. You need not apologise to Dobby. Dobby understands. Dobby remembers. Now, Master Harry, what can Dobby get you?" Dobby looked up at Harry, his tennis ball sized eyes wide with anticipation.

"Er," Harry said. He was still processing the conversation that had just occurred. "Bacon and eggs?" he ventured.

"Coming right up!"

"And a steak," Draco said. "A nice, juicy steak."

"And some toast. Lots of toast. Some pancakes. Oh! And some cereal!" Harry's stomach grumbled as he realised how utterly ravenous he was.

"Dobby will be right back," Dobby said, and disappeared with another loud _crack_.

"_Steak_?" Harry asked, turning around to face Malfoy who shrugged.

"Steak is tasty," he said, before stuffing more cereal into his mouth.

"I'm never going to get any real answers out of you, am I?" Harry sat down at the table, opposite Malfoy. The blonde shook his head.

"I am the confuser," he said. A small grin played about his face as he spoke.

"Is that a Mighty Boosh reference?" Harry asked, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

"It could be." The feral smile was back.

"How do you-?"

"-know about The Mighty Boosh?" Malfoy asked. At Harry's nod, he laughed and tapped his nose. "That's for me to know, and you to want to know."

"You're infuriating, you know that?" Harry asked, his temper finally getting the better of him.

"You're so kind." Harry frowned and shook his head but said nothing. An awkward silence pervaded over the room, which was only broken when Dobby came back with a loud _crack_ and a tray of food. As Dobby set the tray down, Harry looked over at Malfoy. He was staring intently at the piece of steak on the tray.

"Malfoy, you're looking at that steak like it's a piece of meat," Harry said, before realising how stupid he sounded. Even Dobby smacked a hand to his forehead. Malfoy, however, ignored him, too enthralled by the meat that lay before him. Harry shook his head and turned to his own breakfast, the smell of eggs suddenly more important than his crazy new roommate.

.........................................................................................................

"Why is there nothing to do?" Seamus complained as they were all sitting around the kitchen table later that morning.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, looking up from the Daily Prophet.

"Why are we all sitting around the kitchen table doing random and not very exciting things?" Seamus asked. He looked around at them all with an accusatory glare. Zacharias twiddled his thumbs nervously; Neville looked up briefly from the plants he was potting; Ron, who was visiting from his own house, stopped staring at the ceiling for a moment; Malfoy glared back; and Blaise glanced up from his knitting. "And Blaise, why the blazes are you _knitting_?"

"I'm making a scarf," Blaise said with a shrug. "It's therapeutic."

"I guess that's fair enough," Seamus said. "But don't you guys want to do something else?"

"Such as what?" Neville asked.

"I don't know," Seamus said. "Quidditch, crazy dancing to techno music, pool, swimming... Anything really."

"What's wrong with what we're doing?" Harry asked.

"I'm bored," Seamus replied. "You all have little things to do, I don't."

"I don't either," Zacharias said, shrugging. He still felt uncomfortable in the rest of the house's presence. He was an outsider and he knew it.

"And what am I?" Malfoy asked. "Invisible? I've been sitting here, trying to read the newspaper over Harry's shoulder as I have nothing better to do."

"Do you want the paper?" Harry asked, looking to his left at Malfoy. Malfoy shook his head.

"It's more fun to try and read over your shoulder to practice my stealth skills," Malfoy replied, a smirk playing around his face.

"Oh brilliant," Harry said. "Don't let me stop you."

"You wouldn't be able to stop me even if you tried, Potter."

"So," Ron said after a long pause in which everyone looked awkwardly around the room. "Does anyone have any ideas of what to do?" He felt slightly awkward sitting next to Blaise the Slytherin and was trying not to let it show.

"We could bake for the other houses?" Neville suggested. "Like yours, Ron." Malfoy laughed derisively.

"Yeah," he said. "In our pretty flowery aprons. And then we can sit around and braid each others' hair." Neville flushed but said nothing.

"We _could_ bake though," Seamus said. "In preparation for a year wide party which we can throw tonight!"

"I like the party idea," Malfoy said. "I still don't like the baking. Are we all in favour of a party?" There were six nods. "Okay, so while the house elves bake and cook or whatever, we can think up a decent theme and decorate for it."

"Why don't the house elves decorate?" Zacharias asked.

"Because they have no taste in decorations." Zacharias raised his eyebrows. "Basically they don't know fun other than mops and dusters, so unless you are throwing a janitorial party, they don't know how to prepare for it. At least, not the kind of party we're trying to have. Dinner parties are fine as they make tables all the time anyway." Harry chuckled to himself at the thought of what Hermione would say about that in terms of SPEW. He tried to catch Ron's eye, but Ron was staring at Malfoy with his brow furrowed.

"Is something funny, Potter?" Malfoy asked. Harry shook his head.

"What theme?" he asked as a way of attracting the attention away from himself.

"Janitorial?" suggested Neville. This was met with glares from the entire room. "It was a joke," he said quietly, but no one was listening.

"Jungle?" hazarded Zacharias.

"That was the Slytherin end of year theme last year," Blaise said. "How about ninjas and pirates?" It was at this moment that Harry fell in lust with Blaise. Best theme ever! Even if he _had_ slept with The Blonde Egotist. "It's an easy theme to come up with a costume for on short notice."

"I'll second that theme!" Harry cried enthusiastically. "I love ninjas and pirates!"

"Oh, I know you do, Harry," Seamus said with a wink. Harry blushed and looked at his toes as everyone laughed. Ron rolled his eyes.

"I should be off," he said. "I'll leave you all to your party planning, and most likely see you later tonight!"

"So does anyone object to that theme?" Harry asked as soon as Ron had left. Everybody shook their heads. "Okay then. Let's get organised." He pulled his wand out of his pocket and waved it. Immediately, slips of paper landed in everybody's hands.

"Damn," said Neville. "Boy knows how to organise."

"Neville, have you been watching Scrubs again?" Harry asked and Neville nodded. "Because you sound like Laverne." Neville laughed while Blaise, Seamus and Zacharias sat there with blank looks on their faces. Malfoy was reading his piece of paper and had missed the entire exchange.

"Why am I Agent Draco Malfoy, AKA The Blond Egotist?" he asked without looking up.

"Because that's my nickname for you in my head," Harry replied.

"Couldn't it have been something nicer?"

"What? Like Blondie Bear?"

"Er... no... It's just that I'm not an egotist..."

"Yes you are," said the room in unison.

"Damn it," Malfoy muttered. Harry laughed and looked down at his piece of paper.

**To:** Agent Potter

**AKA: **The Boy Who Lived To Party

**From: **Agent Potter

**Special Covert Operation Assignment – Pirates and Ninjas Party**

**Assignment:** Organise everyone into their allotted jobs and help with everything.

**Field Notes:** Invite people and organise music with Agent Finnegan AKA I'm a tiny leprechaun.

**Field Notes 2:** Help decorate with Agent Zabini AKA Everyone's seen me naked and Agent Malfoy AKA The blond egotist.

**Field Notes 3:** Help Agent Longbottom AKA Let me just water my Japanese peace lily and Agent Smith AKA Why bother with expelliamus? With baking and cooking with the house elves.

**Field Notes 4:** Have fun at the party.

**Field Notes 5:** Try to sleep with Agent Zabini AKA Everyone's seen me naked.

"Can I change my AKA?" Blaise asked, breaking the silence in which people were reading their assignments.

"Not now," Harry replied and Blaise scowled. "Maybe for other assignments."

"There are going to be more of these ridiculous things?" Malfoy asked.

"Hell yeah there are," said Harry. "Anyone can send them. And people have to complete them. Like a dare. I read a book that had something similar which my cousin's girlfriend lent me out of sympathy as I couldn't leave the house one summer."

"Wait," Seamus said. "Dudley had a girlfriend?"

"For about a week," Harry replied. "She came over to the house twice and the second time brought me that book. Then Dudley tried to stick his tongue down her throat and she broke up with him."

"Charming," said Zacharias, in a tone that told Harry he did not find it charming at all. "But when you say a dare, do you mean the assignments have to be completed or else you get a punishment of sorts?"

"Basically, though I don't know who you've been getting dares from in the past. I've never been punished for not completing a dare."

"You grew up with Muggles," Malfoy said flatly.

"Oh," said Harry. "Well, what do wizard dares involve?"

"Well, if you don't finish them, you give the person who dared you the right to hex you."

"Oh shit."

"Yeah," Seamus agreed. "Oh shit is right."

"All the more reason to carry out your assignments then!" Harry exclaimed. "And fill out the completion form and give it to me by midday tomorrow." He waved his wand again and a second sheet of paper materialised in everyone's hands.

"I very much dislike you right now," Malfoy said.

"Yeah, well, you know what, Draco?" Harry replied. "Suck it." He gesticulated towards his crotch.

"I can't right now. There are too many people watching. Maybe later." Harry shook his head in exasperation as everyone laughed.

"What are you all still here for?" Harry asked over the laughter. "Let's get to work!" Still chuckling, everybody but Seamus left the room.

"Thanks for jumping in and taking charge there, Har," Seamus said.

"You're welcome. I figured if no one did anything soon, the party wouldn't get organised in time. Which would mean we would miss out on becoming the 'Party House' officially. And that would be bad."

"Yes, terrible," Seamus agreed. "Now, shall we run around all the new dorms and invite people?"

"Oh, I was thinking we could just owl them," Harry said.

"But then no one will come if we do that! We need to dress up and go deliver the news in style. _Then_ people will want to come," Seamus explained. Harry laughed.

"Alright," he said. "But I get to be the ninja."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Seamus replied with a smirk. Harry blushed slightly, but pulled his wand out and waved it over himself and Seamus. Then, now costumed, they left Llewellyn in search of party guests.

* * *

Okay, so hope you enjoyed that! It was at least _long_ to make up for the lateness (2463 words!). But now I have to go make dinner before I can write again. But I promise to start writing again tonight!

Especially if I get reviews. Haha.

Until next time!

...Riyan...


	5. Chapter 5

Well this chapter took a VERY SHORT time to write! Which is a good thing.

Anyhow. I hope you like it! But before I go, I've been noticing a bunch of people favouriting or alerting this story and not reviewing. :( I guess I thought if you liked something enough to alert it, you might actually bother to tell me a) that you liked it and b) what in particular. IDK. I think it's a little rude if you don't really. But enough from me... On with the story!

...Riyan...

* * *

Far away from Harry and Seamus's enjoyable task of inviting students to their party in costume, Professor McGonagall and Professor Lupin were having a very serious discussion over tea.

"Listen to this Minerva. I'm thinking of changing the school song," Lupin said. He waved his wand in the air and _Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic_ by The Police filled the room. "Only we would replace the words 'she does' in Every little thing _she_ _does_ is magic, to _we do_. What do you think Minerva?"

"I think, with all the other things to discuss, that this matter is somewhat frivolous, Headmaster," McGonagall replied.

"Changing the school song is a very important matter. The school song has been tradition for years," Lupin pointed out. "But I see there are other things weighing on your mind this morning. What's wrong Minerva?" He waved his wand and the music stopped.

"Are you sure it's okay for the Potter boy and the Malfoy boy to room together?" McGonagall asked, leaning forward in her chair.

"I'm sure it's fine," Lupin replied. He took a sip of his tea, watching her over the brim of the teacup.

"But they hate each other. You've seen the way they fight. And now that Malfoy's-"

"-Minerva, they'll be fine. I have every faith that the box was right to pair them. Plus, once lessons start tomorrow they will no longer spend the entire day with each other. They were only paired yesterday." McGonagall frowned but slowly nodded in agreement.

"You're probably right, Headmaster," she said. Still, however, in her heart of hearts, she worried.

"Now, about the change in the school song-" Lupin began.

"-I think it's ridiculous and should stay as it has always been," McGonagall snapped.

"Fine," Lupin said, his shoulders drooping a little.

"Perhaps if you chose a better song," McGonagall said. She smiled as Lupin perked up. "Perhaps."

………………………………………………………………………….

"Arrrrgh. Ye be invited to a parrrrrty tonight," Seamus said at the door of the final house. Hermione, who had opened it, blinked at him.

"Seamus?" she asked. "Is that you under all of the eyeliner and scarves?"

"Aye, it be me. But ye can call Cap'n Seamus the Sexyfine," he said, striking what he thought to be a gallant and sexy pose. Hermione stifled a giggle. "Arrrrgh," he added for effect.

"The theme is Pirates and Ninjas," Harry said, dropping down from above the mantle where he had been crouching uncomfortably for the last few minutes. Hermione jumped in alarm. Harry landed and crouched into a Ninja type pose which, while it was impressive, was highly painful.

"Who is that?" Hermione asked. Harry laughed, lost his balance and fell over. "Harry?" She started to laugh. "Oh Harry, you are ridiculous. Was this party your idea?"

"No," Harry said, picking himself off of the floor and shaking his head. "It was Seamus's."

"Oh, it would be," she replied.

"What do you mean by that?" Seamus said quickly. He narrowed his heavily lined eyes and glared at her.

"Oh, just that you're a fun loving guy, Seamus," Hermione replied, patting him on the arm. He grinned.

"Arrrrgh," he said. "That I be."

"So the party starts at eight," Harry said. "And the rule is: no costume, no swashbuckling or stealthing."

"Harry, 'stealthing' is not a word," Hermione explained gently.

"No one else has pointed that out, and you're the last house we had to visit, so 'stealthing' is going to be on the posters," Harry said. He attempted to stick out his tongue, only to be impeded by the cloth that covered his mouth. "Also, if I could stick out my tongue, I would." This statement did not have the effect that Harry had wanted, but he let it slide. They needed to wrap up this conversation and get back to the house. There was much more work to be done.

"I don't care what you put on the posters, Harry, but I promise you, the girls and I will be there," Hermione said.

"In costume," Seamus said. "No costume, no Cap'n Sexyfine." Hermione laughed again and the peals of her laugh rang out across the silent circle of houses.

"See you later," Harry said, and he began back-handspringing away. Seamus turned and ran after him, cursing the fact that he had been stuck being the pirate and been forced to just walk away. Harry was going to score all the girls. Or rather, boys.

………………………………………………………

"Watch where you're going with that blender," Draco snapped as Dobby scurried by him in the front hall with a blender that was bigger than he was stretched out in front of him.

"Yes, Master Malfoy," Dobby squeaked. "Master Longbottom told Dobby to put it in the dining room. And so Dobby does it, sir."

"Do you want me to take it for you, Dobby?" Blaise asked, hurrying down the stairs to help the elf.

"No, Dobby is fine. Thank you, Master Zabini," Dobby replied, before disappearing into the dining room. Draco sighed.

"I don't know what to do with the front hall," he said to Blaise. "Pirate? Or Ninja?"

"I think you need to make the stairs into the prow of a boat and stairs built into either side," Blaise said. "See how the stairs split there," he pointed. "There can be the deck of the ship, and the stairs can go up either side." Draco frowned.

"I'm not sure I understand what you're saying. Why don't you do it?"

"Sure thing," Blaise said. He took his wand out and waved it. The landing of the stairs that they were standing on began to move. Draco unconsciously grabbed Blaise's arm as the prow of a boat came out of the landing beneath their feet, as wide as the stairs were apart and as tall as the landing. The timber was aged with use and smelt of salt and seaweed. A wheel stood, spinning slightly, in the middle of the deck, which reached almost to the door of the house, which had moved outwards to accommodate the ship.

As Draco watched, more of the ship emerged from the wall, including a small cabin, and the walls of the house stretched even further. And then, just as suddenly as it had started, it stopped.

"Wow," Draco breathed. "That was amazing. This _is_ amazing. How the hell did you _do_ that?"

"Magic," Blaise replied with a shrug. Draco rolled his eyes.

"You're funny, you know that?" Draco said, sarcasm heavy in his tone. Blaise just grinned.

"You're just jealous because you didn't make the awesome pirate ship," he said. Draco frowned and Blaise stuck his tongue out.

"Well, I did most of the rest of the house," Draco retorted, after a short moment of thinking. He knew this was a lackluster retort, but it was the best he could come up with. And it was true. He _had_ decorated most of the house. From the Ninja training room in place of the library to the pirate themed swimming pool, complete with a plank to walk and treasure chests at the bottom of the pool. But Blaise's masterpiece would be the first thing anyone saw when they came into the house, a fact that became readily apparent when Harry and Seamus walked through the front door and started to spontaneously clap.

"This is _amazing_, guys," Harry said.

"You haven't even seen half of it," Draco said quickly.

"There's _more_?" Seamus asked. There was disbelief etched all over his face. Draco just laughed and motioned for the to follow him. Seamus eagerly ran up the steps, but Harry declined, turning instead in the direction of the kitchen in order to check up on Zacharias and Neville.

He became momentarily lost when he came across the dining room which had been turned into a banquet hall. A large, cobwebbed and dusty chandelier hung from the ceiling and a huge, shell shaped punch bowl stood in the center of the burgundy cloth covered table. Candle sconces hung on the walls and a treasure chest gleamed in the corner of the room. On a side table, three giant blenders stood, masquerading as gold goblets and there was a jolly roger hung crookedly against the back wall.

"Wow," Harry said quietly to himself.

"It's pretty impressive, isn't it?" asked a voice behind him and he jumped.

"Blaise, you scared me," Harry said, turning around to face the other boy. The candle light glinted off of his brown hair and Harry swallowed hard.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Blaise replied. "I just was curious where you were off to, so I followed you."

"I was admiring the décor. And attempting to find the kitchen so that I could see how Neville and Zacharias were getting along with the cooking."

"Mind if I join you?" Blaise asked. Harry shook his head.

"'Course not," he said, turning and moving towards the door that led to the kitchen. It was partially obscured by a heavy velvet drape. Harry pushed the door open and they were met with the sound of giggling. Neville and Zacharias were sitting on either side of a blender in the middle of the counter, surrounded by bottles of liquor.

"Harry!" Neville called. "You _have_ to come try this! You too, Blaise!" He proffered them a goblet which Harry took and, after suspiciously smelling it and wincing at the smell of the alcohol, lifted to his mouth. The drink tasted strongly of a fruit that Harry couldn't name and faintly of lime. There was also a faint taste of tequila, which surprised Harry as the smell of the tequila had been overpowering.

"Wow, Neville," he said. "What is this?"

"Our secret mixture," Zacharias said. He smiled mischievously.

"Well, what's in it?" Blaise asked, taking the goblet from Harry and taking a sip himself.

"Can't tell you. It's a secret," Neville said. He and Zacharias looked at each other, grinned and then burst out laughing. Harry shook his head.

"Alright, well, I take it you two are doing well then," he said. "Have you made anything other than your Secret Mixture?" Neville nodded.

"There are three cakes in the fridge which are cooling and then the house elves are going to ice them," Zacharias said. "We perfected the recipe for Piña Coladas, which are a must for the pirate theme. The Secret Mixture is for the ninja room of drinks which Malfoy said he had made. The pirate room will also have lots of rum. Because pirates like rum. I think. Well, there was a pirate on one of the rum bottles." He pointed to the bottle of Captain Morgan that was sitting on the table. "We also made up a good recipe for Tequila Sunrises. And more."

"So, you're going to make sure all the blenders and things are full in all the rooms?" Harry asked.

"No," Neville said. "We gave instructions to the house elves, so they know what they're doing."

"Even the recipe for your Secret Mixture?" Blaise asked. Zacharias nodded.

"You two have done well then!" Harry exclaimed. "You're free to do whatever you want now! Be it getting plastered or helping with the decoration." They both nodded and turned their attention back to the blender in front of them. "Shall we, Blaise?" Harry asked, gesturing towards the door. Blaise nodded and held the door open for Harry.

"Can I give you a tour of the decoration now?" he asked, as they closed the door to the kitchen behind them.

"Sure, go on then," Harry replied. He suppressed a grin as he felt a thrill in his stomach when Blaise took his hand to show him around the house. He had not been this infatuated with anyone since Seamus had first caught his eye and he had realized he had feelings for men. It was a good feeling.

* * *

Okay! So that's Chapter Five! Next time: Does the party go well? Does Harry get with Blaise? Is there something between Neville and Zacharias? Or do rocks fall and everyone dies?

You'll just have to wait and see. And review. Because when I get adoration (or at least acknowledgement) I feel like this is worth me spending my time doing and then I actually write. :) Yeah. Please don't just alert/favourite. If you do like it, review! (and favourite/alert if you want). That said. THANK YOU to the people who did review! You're the reason this chapter is out so soon after the other one!

Until next time...

...Riyan...


	6. Chapter 6

Sorry for the wait! I've been busy doing things like being a vampire with a needle (being a phlebotomist, aka the people who take blood). But the chapter is extra long to make up for it!

...Riyan...

* * *

As they wandered around the house, Harry ooh-ed and ah-ed appreciatively at everything Blaise was showing him. From the corridors draped in light coloured banners to the swimming pool complete with gangplank diving board and sand instead of tile on the floor.

"I wish Draco were here to show you all of this. He could tell you exactly what he did to the room," Blaise said.

"Yes, but then I'd have to talk to him and I avoid that if I can help it," Harry replied.

"You should give him a chance," Blaise said reproachfully. "He's a nice guy once you get to know him." Harry frowned but said nothing. "You shouldn't go on hating him if you're rooming together."

"We don't hate each other. It's mutual dislike. We're civil to each other. This is a big step for us."

"Okay," said Blaise. "Whatever you say. I'll leave you to explore the house for yourself now. I want to go make sure Neville and Zacharias are still conscious."

"Okay," Harry said. "That sounds sensible. I'll see you later then."

"Yep!" Blaise walked towards the door and paused there. "You know," he said, looking back at Harry. "I don't think the dislike is mutual, but whatever you say." And with that he left the room, leaving Harry feeling very confused. He frowned and left the room in search of the Blonde Egotist.

After a moment of searching, in which all he really did was walk out into the front hall, Harry found Malfoy who was meticulously adding illusionary water to the floor of the hall.

"Could you not just do that with one big wave of your wand?" Harry asked, gesturing to the square of tile that Malfoy was enchanting.

"I could," Malfoy conceded. "But then it might not look as good, and my mild OCD will not allow for that." Harry was tempted to ask about the use of the word mild in the sentence, but that might anger Malfoy. Then Harry would be sure to get a false answer to the next thing he wanted to ask and so refrained and instead asked the question that was on the tip of his tongue.

"Do you like me? As a person? Or am I an annoying twerp like you said the other night?"

"You're a somewhat likeable annoying twerp," Malfoy said without looking up. "I don't end up hating you as often as I used to. Though, it's only been a day and a bit, so don't get your hopes up. Why? Were you wondering if we could be friends or something? Because the answer at the moment is no."

"No, I wasn't wondering if we could be friends. I still don't particularly like you. Though, as you said. 'I don't end up hating you as often.' So there's something. Now, I'll leave you to your tiles." And with that, Harry left the room to check how Seamus was coming along with the music.

…………………………………………………………

As the time of the party neared, Harry began to get more and more excited, though he was having difficulty in deciding whether to be a pirate or a ninja as he had already been a ninja earlier in the day. In addition to this, he had come up with an awesome pirate name. Captain Harrrrry "Buccaneer of Sex" Pottarrrr. In desperation he tried to make his costume look like a ninja pirate with a his face partially covered _and_ an eye patch, but the finished product merely looked like a half blind ninja that had tried to dress himself in the dark and mixed up some of his clothes.

He was dressed this way when Malfoy entered their room. Harry's shoulders drooped in humiliation even before Malfoy started to laugh.

"What the fuck are you meant to be?" Malfoy asked between bellows of laughter. "A senile ninja?" Harry sighed.

"I was trying to go for half pirate, half ninja. Only I failed."

"Honestly," Malfoy said, shaking his head. "Do you want me to help you?"

"No, I'm perfectly capable of making my own costume," Harry snapped. "I just need to decide whether to be a pirate or a ninja."

"Well, I thought your ninja costume earlier today was convincing. Why don't you wear that again?"

"I already wore it today," Harry complained. "And I thought if I were a pirate I could call myself Captain Harrrrry "Buccaneer of Sex" Pottarrrr."

"In which case, you should most definitely be a ninja," Malfoy sniggered. Harry frowned

"I'm going to go ask Seamus," Harry said. He waved his wand and stalked out of the room, back in his normal clothes.

He found Seamus in his room, flopped on his stomach on his bed and watching the magical screen on the wall. Harry recognized Seamus's favourite show, Desperate House Elves and wisely decided that it was not worth interrupting. He had tried that in the past, and had always been jilted in favor of the show. Stalking back to his room, he was so preoccupied with thoughts of the past and of all of the desperate house elves themselves that he almost ran into Neville who was walking down the corridor in the opposite direction.

"How are you sober already?" Harry asked. "When I saw you only a couple hours ago, you were as drunk as a skunk."

"Skunks get drunk?" Neville asked, his face clouding over in confusion.

"It's a Muggle expression," Harry explained.

"Oh," Neville said. "I get it. Kind of. But, in answer to your question, Dobby made Zacharias and I drink have 'sober up' potions so that we would be able to get ready for the party properly."

"He's a clever house elf, that one," Harry said. "So are you going to be a pirate or a ninja?"

"Ninja. More mysterious and more dangerous." Neville narrowed his eyes as he spoke, which he thought made him look more dangerous, and Harry resisted the urge to laugh. "What about you?"

"I can't decide. One the one hand, I have an awesome ninja costume and some mad ninja skills." Neville raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "Okay, well, pretend ninja skills. But on the other hand, I could call myself Captain Harrrrry "Buccaneer of Sex" Pottarrrr if I were a pirate. And I could make an awesome costume without too much difficulty." He already had ideas about said costume. It included a mostly unbuttoned white billowing shirt and a maroon waistcoat with gold embroidery. And the boots. Oh, the boots would be sexy.

"That name is rubbish, Har, and I say that as a friend. Don't embarrass yourself. Be a ninja." And with that, Neville walked past Harry and down the corridor. Harry frowned and trudged back to his room, resigned to being a ninja.

"Why so sad?" Malfoy asked as he reentered the room.

"Neville said I should be a ninja," Harry replied without looking up from his feet which were currently occupying his attention. If he had looked up, he would have seen a dashingly handsome Draco Malfoy, dressed to the nines in a silk shirt, which clung ever so slightly to his smooth stomach, and tight black trousers, tucked into boots. And if he had seen that, he might have gasped. But instead he flopped onto his bed without looking over at the blonde, who was now putting eyeliner subtly on his eyes.

"Well, you could always switch costumes halfway through the party," Malfoy said, standing back to survey himself in the mirror. He nodded at his reflection, and shot it a toothy grin in which his teeth glinted in the light of the room. Then he left the room in order to finish perfecting the decorations.

It was only then that Harry glanced over at his retreating back. Only then did he gasp slightly, but Malfoy did not hear it, absorbed as he was by crooked drape that met him in the corridor.

He also failed to hear the muttered cursing which was Harry hating himself for finding the blonde even the least bit attractive.

It was then that the doorbell rang, and Harry cursed himself again, this time for not having his costume on, and he stood hastily and ran to stand in front of the mirror. He pulled his wand out and waved it over himself, concentrating hard on the pirate costume he had in mind. Sure enough, he was quickly clad in the billowing white shirt, maroon and gold waistcoat, tight black trousers and knee high boots. He had a red scarf around his head, allowing his hair to stick up over the top of it, and what was probably too much eyeliner around his eyes.

"Arrrrgh," he said at his reflection, flexing in the mirror.

"Vain much?" Malfoy asked from the door. Harry looked over in alarm. He was so embarrassed at his own actions that he could not even take in the other man's undeniably impressive costume and great looks in combination, and so, again, there was no gasp where there ought to have been one.

"I thought you'd left!" Harry cried, quickly straightening up.

"I did, but I came back. I forgot my eye patch." Harry's eyes, unbidden, roved their way over Malfoy's costume and Harry suppressed the gasp that had been coming for a while.

"Er, nice costume," he muttered. He put a hand up to his head and ran it through his hair awkwardly.

"Nice eloquence," Malfoy replied, a smirk making its way across his face. "Now if you could move, I need the mirror." He pushed Harry aside and waved his wand at himself. An eye patch materialized on his face, completing his outfit. "See you at the party," Malfoy said, crossing back over to the door, where he paused. "Twerp." With a laugh he disappeared and Harry stood, still in the place where Malfoy had pushed him to.

"Damn," he muttered, before shaking himself and heading out into the party, making sure to lock his door behind him as he left. He did not want anyone in his room at a time when he might need it that night.

"Blaise!" he said, hailing the other boy as he hurried over to him in the corridor. Blaise was dressed in all black with duct tape across his chest reading _CHEAP NINJA_. Harry laughed. "Great costume."

"Thanks," Blaise said and fell into step with Harry as they made their way towards the dining room. "I wanted to dress up the Muggle way."

"Fair enough," Harry said. "I was considering doing that, but then I had this vision of what I wanted my costume to look like, and there was no way I could have found it in my closet." They entered the dining room to find several other students helping themselves to the concoctions that Zacharias and Neville and created. "Can I get you something?" Harry asked. He picked up a gold goblet, which had been a plastic cup but a few hours previously, and proffered it towards Blaise.

"Any one of Neville and Zacharias's secret mixtures," Blaise said. He smiled and Harry forgot about his fellow pirate with the blonde hair and the silk shirt.

The night was shaping up to be an interesting one.

………………………………………………….

Several of Neville and Zacharias's secret mixtures later and the boys of the house were all in the swimming pool, along with Dean Thomas, Ron, Hermione, Lavender Brown, the Patil twins, and, to Harry's displeasure, Pansy Parkinson. They were all in bathing suits, magicked on them by Malfoy who had been eager for a midnight swim, and sharing a bottle of wine as they played 'Never Have I Ever'. Harry held the bottle in his right hand, above the water which was warm for swimming in.

"Never have I ever," he began, looking around the circle until his eyes rested on Malfoy. "Owned a Nimbus 2001." Malfoy's eyes narrowed and he swam over and snatched the bottle from Harry who was laughing.

"Hilarious, Potter," he sniped before lifting the bottle up and taking a swig from it. "Who's next?" Seamus, who was standing next to Harry, raised his hand. The bottle was passed and Seamus stood for a moment with a small frown on his face. A bunch of fellow revelers stumbled into the room before he could speak. One of them tripped and fell against the wall, hitting the light switch and plunging them all into darkness.

"Oh my, I'm _so sorry_," said the mystery wall faller. "Where's the light switch?" They giggled, clearly intoxicated.

"It's okay," Blaise said. He swam over to the side of the pool and picked up his wand. He pointed it towards the ceiling, muttered "Lumos," and a small, glowing moon pulsed into life on the ceiling. "Now it's more like a midnight swim anyway. It's more mysterious. Full of dark places for doing dark deeds." Neville giggled nervously. "Now, I believe it was my roommate's turn." He turned to Seamus and nodded in his direction,

"Right oh," Seamus said, holding the bottle of wine aloft. "Never have I ever… Bugger, this is hard. I've done a lot." Several people laughed. "Never have I ever had my trousers pulled down by someone other than me." He looked over at Blaise and stuck his tongue out.

"Er, Seamus," Harry said. "That's not exactly true." He looked pointedly at the Irish boy.

"Damn it. I forgot acts of passion." He took a drink from the bottle and then handed it to Blaise. Malfoy took the bottle from him and, to everyone's surprise, did Neville.

"What?" he asked, staring around at people's scandalized looks. "I wanted to wear my favourite trousers to the hospital, and Grandmother didn't agree with my choice."

"When was this, Neville?" Zacharias asked. "When you were three? Because I don't think that counts."

"No, it was last Tuesday. Who else needs to drink?" he asked, oblivious to the awkward glances he was receiving. Harry reached over and took the bottle from him, tipped his head back and attempted to drink, only to find the bottle empty.

"This one's empty. I'll open another one," he said, swimming over to the side of the swimming pool to where Malfoy stood, leaning against the wall. Harry leaned over him and grabbed a full bottle from where Seamus had left them. "You don't feel like moving, do you?" Harry asked quietly to Malfoy who smirked and shook his head. "Fine." Harry reached around the other side of the blonde's head and grabbed the bottle opener.

He glanced around at the other people in the pool, but none of them were paying attention to them. Most of the girls of the group were climbing out of the pool, tired of playing drinking games, and the boys were deep in pointless conversation.

"You know you're being very irritating by standing there, don't you?" Harry told Malfoy as he struggled to get the bottle opener to take hold of the cork.

"You know you could have stood anywhere else on the side of the pool to open that, don't you?" Malfoy shot back, pressing his forehead against Harry's. Harry stopped fumbling with the cork for a moment as he held his breath. He watched as Malfoy's mouth curled itself into a smirk. He let out a slow, shaky breath and began to struggle with the cork screw again. He could feel Malfoy's breath on his lips and it was making him giddy.

"What are you-" he began to ask.

"Shh," Malfoy murmured. He moved his head slightly, bringing their foreheads apart and their noses together.

They stayed that way for a split second of a moment before Malfoy tilted his head sideways and pressed their mouths together. Harry's eyes widened in shock for a moment before he kissed the blonde back. After a moment of marveling at how soft Malfoy's lips were and what a good kisser he was, Harry pulled away and looked nervously around at the others. They were still deep in conversation, so he turned back to Malfoy and kissed him again, still trying to open the bottle of wine. He smiled into the kisses as he felt the screw take a hold on the cork and he turned the top furiously. The arms of the corkscrew rose until they were vertical and Harry then pushed them down to hear the satisfying pop of the cork leaving the bottle.

"I got it open," he cried, pulling away from Malfoy and holding the bottle aloft.

He glided back to his allotted place in the circle, ignoring the stare that Malfoy was giving him.

"About bloody time," Seamus said. "I almost thought I was sobering up." Harry laughed and handed him the bottle. "Now then, who was next?" Seamus took a swig from the bottle and looked around the circle.

"Should we play something more exciting?" Malfoy asked, still staring at Harry who was starting to feel uncomfortable.

"Such as what?" Blaise asked.

"You know, some of those games we used to play in the Slytherin common room late on a Saturday night. Like our dirty version of Kings."

"But we'd need cards for that. And we're in a swimming pool," Blaise pointed out.

"So let's get out and find an empty room. Plus, other people might want to play," Seamus suggested. Several people, including Ron and Neville, nodded.

"Fine," Malfoy said with a sigh. He turned and swam over to the stairs where several people were starting to get out. Harry watched him and was so preoccupied in doing so that he didn't see Blaise swim up beside him. He was only made aware of the brunette's presence when the other boy tapped him on the arm.

"Are you okay?" Blaise asked.

"Fine."

"You seem somewhat… in a world of your own."

"I'm fine," Harry said, turning to face Blaise. "Really," he added, seeing the other boy's troubled expression. "I might go to bed now though, instead of playing this Kings game. We _do_ have classes in the morning after all."

"Do you want me to take you to your room?"Blaise asked, putting a hand on Harry's arm. Harry inhaled sharply and looked around to check whether Malfoy was still in the room but the Blonde Egotist had left with the others. In fact, he and Blaise were the only two left in the room, let alone in the pool.

"Um," Harry said, looking back at Blaise.

"I can tuck you in and everything," the other boy pressed, his eyes wide in earnest.

"Okay," Harry relented. Blaise smiled and took Harry's hand to lead him out of the pool.

* * *

More of the evening to come in the next chapter! He he he... Anyhow. Please review!

...Riyan...


	7. Chapter 7

First off, I am SO SORRY that this is so late in being published. I've been on holiday. But it's about twice as long as my other chapters, so hopefully that should placate you all a little bit. I had lots of other exciting things to say, but they escape me currently. So... STORY TIME! :)

...Riyan...

* * *

"Where have the others gone?" Harry asked as he and Blaise stumbled their way through the now mostly deserted halls of the house. They were still in their bathing suits, a fact that neither of them had registered due to the alcohol coursing through their systems.

"Not sure," Blaise replied. "Want to find them?"

"Kind of."

"Instead of going to bed?" Harry stopped walking in order to consider the question at hand. Part of him wanted to go to bed, but part of him wanted to keep partying. A small part of him wanted to kiss Malfoy again, but then another, slightly larger part, wanted to kiss Blaise.

"Well," Harry said. "We could go find them with the pretense of saying that we're going to bed, but if they're doing something exciting, then we can join in!"

"Brilliant plan, Potter," Blaise said. "Sorry, I meant Harry." He giggled and glanced at Harry with a mischievous smirk on his face.

"Of course it's a brilliant plan _Zabini_, I came up with it. And I am Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, Slayer of Moldypants-"

"-Slayer of who?"

"Voldemort," Harry giggled. "But I used to call him Voldypants. Which then turned into Moldypants... It was an in-joke with Ron." Blaise's look of confusion cleared and he began to laugh.

"You're hilarious Potter," Blaise said between chuckles. They were now facing each other in the hallway, their plan to find the others forgotten.

"Well," Harry said. "I try." Through his drunken haze, Harry knew they were flirting and there was a thrill of excitement in the pit of his stomach. He took a tentative step towards the other boy.

"Hey, Harry, Blaise," a voice hailed them from down the corridor. Harry tried not to let the disappointment show on his face as he turned around to face Seamus who was hurrying towards them. "We're about to start playing a game called Kings, but we can't start without you!" He had reached them in the corridor and so took their hands and began to drag them in the direction he had come.

"But we're not wearing clothes," Harry spluttered. He was upset at having been interrupted in what he was sure would have ended in him having his wicked way with the ex-Slytherin.

"No problem," Seamus said. He let go of Harry's hand and pulled his wand out. With a quick wave, they were back in their original costumes. "By the way, Blaise," Seamus said. "I never got the opportunity to tell you that your costume is truly inspired." Blaise smiled at the compliment and Harry struggled to hide a scowl. They turned the corner of the corridor and found themselves in the entrance hall, which still had its pirate ship.

"Where are we going?" Blaise asked.

"The main cabin," Seamus explained as he pulled them up the stairs. They stumbled up, tripping over the stairs and laughing in their inebriation.

………………………………………………………….

In another part of the house, Hermione was, for once, doing something that was not the smart option. She knew she should be in bed asleep. But instead, she was in someone else's bed. Not sleeping.

She knew she would regret this during double Herbology in the morning, but right then and there, she wasn't thinking about that. She also knew that ever visiting this house again might be awkward, but right then and there, she wasn't thinking about that either.

"Are you sure this is okay?" her bed partner asked. "I mean, we have class in the morning and we should probably be sleeping right now." Hermione smiled and looked him straight in the eye.

"Now that you've said that," she said. "It's even more okay." His brow crinkled in confusion and he looked at her with his head tilted to the side. "Well, we're both worrying about the same things." She leaned in and pressed their lips together again before pulling way to say, "That makes me feel a whole lot more like I _should _be here." He smiled.

"Well," he said. "I'm glad." He kissed her again. "I'm really happy you're here."

"Where else would I be?" she asked.

"With Ron."

"Oh Zacharias-"

"-Please. Call me Zach."

"Fine. Zach. Ron and I are just friends. And we will probably always just be friends." She looked him straight in the eye, her eyebrows contracted in worry. He reached up and tucked a wisp of hair behind her ear and she smiled. "Now, enough talk of that ridiculous redhead," she said with a laugh, before closing the gap between them again.

………………………………………………………….

"Right then," Malfoy said, surveying what he called the "motley crew" of people assembled around the table in front of him. Blaise, Harry, Seamus, Neville, Justin Finch Fletchley, Pansy, Lavender and some girl called Hannah Abbot stared back at him. "Does everyone understand the rules?"

"Er," Harry said. They had arrived just as Malfoy was finishing up his explanation. "I missed some of the numbers." Malfoy glared at him and pointed at the blackboard behind him.

"They're all written there, idiot," he spat.

"So are we all clear as to what to do?" He hit the blackboard behind him to emphasise his point. A small cloud of chalk dust erupted from the board and Harry stifled a laugh. "Well then, let's begin. Potter, you can start, since you're now clear on the rules."

"And as well as drinking, there are dares involved?" Harry asked.

"Yes, damn it, now pick a card," Malfoy snapped, pointing at the circle of cards that was in the middle of the table. Harry smiled nervously and did what he was told. He looked at the card. It was a seven. Glancing surreptitiously at the chalk board he quickly scanned the list.

Ace – Tell it to my face

2 - You

3 - Me

4 - Whores

5 – Five Fingers Never Have I Ever

6 - Dicks

7 - Heaven

8 - Date

9 - Bust-a-rhyme

10 - Categories

Jack - Make up a rule

Queen - Question master

King - Fling (off an item of clothing)

Seven was heaven. But what did 'heaven' mean again? He looked up from his card to see everyone's hands in the air.

"Seven heaven means put your hands in the air?" he asked, confused. Malfoy rolled his eyes.

"Well, if you had been listening when I'd introduced everyone to the rules, you would have known that," the blonde said. "Idiot." No one said anything for a moment, but looked from Harry to Malfoy and back again.

"Well, drink up," Seamus said merrily, breaking the awkward silence. "And then we have to dare you!" Harry took a sip of the "Neville and Zacharias's Secret Mixture" that was sitting before him and then stared around at his fellow game players.

"Okay guys, help me now," Seamus said, motioning to the others to move into a tighter circle to discuss Harry's fate. There was a moment or so of frantic muttering before the circle disbanded and Seamus stood up. "You have to drink two shots of tequila in under ten seconds."

"What, no salt and lime?" Harry asked.

"Salt only at the beginning and you have to lick it off of... Draco's stomach."

"What?" Malfoy spluttered.

"Oh, shut up," Seamus said. "And you can get the lime from Blaise."

"And where do I have to hold said lime?" Blaise asked in a bored tone.

"In your hand," said Seamus.

"Oh, well, that's alright then," said Blaise sounding relieved. Malfoy sent him a glare which he ignored.

"Okay, you ready Har?" Seamus asked. Harry nodded. "Okay. Draco can you please take off your shirt and lie down?" Malfoy nodded and grudgingly took off his shirt.

"Before I do this," Harry said. "You realized I am going to be completely shit faced, right? I mean, two shots of tequila? After all I've already had?"

"Fair point. Blaise, sit down. Harry, there's been a change of dares- Draco stay where you are!" he cried as Draco began to redress himself. "On the table, he's taking a shot out of your belly button."

"Oh, hell no he's not," Malfoy snapped. "That should be a "date" dare. This one he has to do on his own." He pulled his shirt on with a huff.

"Alright, alright. Harry, take off the shirt and dance around the cabin in the fashion of a cute little rent boy." Harry cocked his head to the side.

"Do a sexy dance around the cabin, Potter," Malfoy explained in a bored voice. "Shirtless." Harry sighed and proceeded to do so, swinging his hips in an appealing manner and shimmying his shoulders likewise, until he tripped over a loose article of treasure and fell flat on his face. Embarrassed as he was, Harry did not see the curious grey eyes which roved across the scar on his back.

"I'm okay," he shouted, jumping up. "Can I stop dancing though?" he added as an afterthought. Seamus nodded and he returned to his seat. The game continued, with the dares becoming more and more inappropriate as time went on.

Seamus had to pole dance topless without a pole. Lavender had to undo Neville's shirt using only her teeth which made them both blush profusely. Justin had to dance a strip tease down to his boxers and Pansy had to lick Malfoy down his chest from his collarbone to his navel.

It was now Malfoy's turn and everyone watched as he drew an eight.

"Date!" Seamus cried. "Pick someone to drink and have a dare with!"

"I know the rules, Finnegan," Malfoy snapped.

"Well, I was saying it for Harry's benefit. He still seems awfully confused," Seamus replied.

"Well, since he's confused," Malfoy said, glaring over at Harry. "I will choose him as my date. Drink up, Potter."

"What?" Harry asked, confused for the umpteenth time that night.

"I chose you as my date. When I drink, you drink. When I get dared, you get dared."

"All night?" Harry asked, incredulous.

"Yep."

"Can I refuse and go to bed instead?"

"No, you most certainly cannot."

"But I'm tired!" Harry whined.

"Fine. But you have to do at least one dare with me," Malfoy snapped. "Then you can take your sorry ass to bed."

"Hey, Draco," Neville interjected. "I'm quite tired too."

"Yeah, me too," chorused Blaise and Lavender together. Malfoy glared around the circle at all of the offending tired people.

"Fine. The tired people can go sleep. Those who want to stay can stay, but all of this happens _after _my turn."

"Sounds good," Neville said. "What should they do?"

"Make out! Make out!" cried Seamus. Harry and Malfoy's faces mirrored each other in shock.

"Agreed," said Pansy. "Now _this_ I want to see." She laughed and Harry flushed.

"For thirty seconds," Justin added.

"Fine," Harry snapped. "Any more conditions? Should we be shirtless? Or hanging upside down or something else equally ridiculous?"

"Potter," Malfoy hissed. "Shut up."

"Shirtless!" cried Hannah Abbott. Harry's shoulders slumped, but he stood up and unbuttoned his shirt. He walked over to where Malfoy was still sitting grumpily in his chair and pulled the chair back from the table.

"Come on," Harry said, attempting to pull Malfoy into a standing position. The blonde batted his hand away, but reluctantly stood.

"Fine," he said. "Let's get this over with. Get your skinny arse over here, Potter." He gestured at Harry who had moved a few feet away, into a more central part of the room.

"Hang on," Harry said, pulling Malfoy over to where he was. "You need to take off your shirt." And he began, to everyone's amusement, to undo Malfoy's shirt buttons. Malfoy felt himself grow hot and he knew there was a small amount of colour spreading through his cheeks.

"I can do it, Potter," he snapped, yanking his shirt over his head in order to get Harry's offending hands off of his chest.

"Fine," Harry said, putting his hands up. "I was only trying to help." He pulled his unbuttoned shirt off of his shoulders and looked awkwardly up at Malfoy. "Ready?" he asked.

Malfoy did not reply, but instead brought his face close to Harry's, which Harry took as a yes. Placing a hand on Malfoy's shoulder, he tilted his head to the right and ever so gently pressed their lips together. Under his hand, he could feel Malfoy's shiver and he attempted to deepen the kiss. He parted his lips slightly and ran his tongue over the other boy's bottom lip. The blonde responded by wrapping an arm around his waist and pulling him closer. Before either of them knew what was happening, lips had parted and tongues had begun to battle.

And then Seamus announced that thirty seconds had elapsed and they broke apart, each pretending it had not been as amazing as it was.

"Right then," Harry said, trying to keep his voice from shaking. "I think I'm off to bed now that I still don't understand this game and I definitely need to sleep for my classes tomorrow, rather than sleep through them." He waved at everyone in the room and the others who had expressed their desire to sleep stood and began to file out of the room.

Harry glanced back at Malfoy as he left the room and saw his eyes filled with lust. A knot formed in the pit of his stomach and he walked, confused and tired, into Blaise who was waiting for him in the corridor.

"Right then, Harry," Blaise said. "Time for bed."

"Oh, I wholeheartedly agree," Harry said. He did not want to have to think about the Blonde Egotist anymore that night.

"So, what's the craziest thing you've done lately?" Blaise asked, as they stumbled towards Harry's room for the second time that night. "Other than make out with Draco."

"I made out with Malfoy in the pool," Harry said.

"Really?" Blaise asked, surprise evident in his voice. "When?"

"Right after Never Have I Ever. I was trying to open the new bottle of wine." He looked down at his feet in shame and tripped over a fold in the carpet. Blaise laughed as Harry fell flat on his face.

"Want some help up, Potter?" Blaise asked. He held out a hand as Harry turned over onto his back.

"Thanks, Blaise," Harry replied, taking the other's hand, but in their inebriated states, Harry only succeeded in pulling Blaise onto the floor on top of him. The two of them burst out laughing as Blaise scrambled to get off of Harry. Harry pushed himself into a sitting position with his hands and looked down the corridor. Malfoy was stand at the end of it, not moving, with a strange expression on his face. The blonde turned and left the corridor.

The smile faded from Harry's face and he struggled to pull himself to his feet.

"What's wrong?" Blaise asked, seeing Harry's expression.

"Malfoy," Harry said, pointing down the corridor to where the blonde had been standing. "I should go." Blaise said nothing, only nodded, and Harry scrambled gracelessly to his feet. "Draco," he called. "Wait." He ran down the corridor, only to find it empty. Further searching of the house also proved fruitless, and after a while, Harry gave up and just fell into bed, exhausted from the day.

………………………………………………..

Harry's alarm the following morning brought with it another pounding headache. He moaned as he reached a hand over to his bedside table and hit the offending noise maker and he rolled over.

"Oh no you don't," came a voice from the vicinity of Harry's armchair. "We have class today. You need to get up." Harry forced an eye open to see a fuzzy pale area standing out against the dark of the chair. He blinked and the fuzzy area sharpened somewhat. The feral looking smile was back on the face of a very well put together Draco Malfoy.

"Don't you get hung over?" Harry asked thickly. His mouth was very dry.

"Can't get hung over if you don't sleep," the blonde replied. "Now," he said, standing up and walking over to Harry's bed. "Get up." He poked Harry in the head with his wand. Harry winced.

"You're not going to heal my hangover this time?" Harry asked, squinting up at the blonde who shook his head. "What?" Harry cried, sitting up. "Why not?"

"You were all over Blaise, and vice versa. You know he and I have history. So I decided no, I won't heal your headache. Especially not after you made out with me, and then left me for him."

"I did what?"

"We made out in the swimming pool. You were trying to open another bottle of wine. You leaned on me as I was standing by the side of the pool, next to the bottle. I leaned in. And then opening the wine bottle was much more difficult for you." Harry nodded as the memory washed over him. "But then you left me for Blaise and I was left with a problem that wouldn't go away on its own and ended up in bed with Justin Finch Fletchley, which I also blame you for. So I'm angry at you and your headache is going to stay because I want to see you suffer."

"Okay, but I'll have you know, nothing happened with Blaise, so you don't need to be jealous of me." Harry said. "Or of him," he added as an afterthought.

"Why would I be jealous of him?" Draco asked, even though part of him knew why.

"Well, you made out with me. And then you gave me all these strange looks for the rest of the night while I was with Blaise. And I couldn't stand those looks. And not just from you, from Seamus too."

"Why would Finnegan be looking at you funny?"

"We dated."

"You're gay?"

"Duh. I made out with you and you said yourself that I was all over Blaise."

"Well you could be bi."

"But I'm not. Girls just don't fill my penis with blood."

"Did you have to be so graphic?"

"Yes. I'm suffering from the world's worst hangover. I'm sorry; would you have preferred something more metaphorical like: girls just don't make my little soldier stand to attention?"Malfoy snorted in laughter.

"You're hilarious, Potter," Malfoy said, turning and walking away from Harry's bed.

"You know," Harry said, sitting up. "I'd be even funnier without this bleedin' hangover." He looked hopefully towards the blonde's retreating back, his puppy dog face in full effect.

"Not really," Malfoy replied without turning around, and with that he left the room.

Harry slumped back into his pillows dejectedly, his head thumping painfully. It was almost worse than the pains he used to get in the scar on his forehead. He frowned as he remembered the last year, full of fear and doubt…

His thoughts were interrupted by the reappearance of Malfoy, who came into the room carrying a tray of breakfast. Harry propped himself up on his elbows.

"Is that for me?" he asked.

"Unfortunately yes," the other boy replied. "I found Dobby carrying it up the stairs for you, so I offered to bring it the rest of the way."

"That was nice of you," Harry said, pulling himself out of bed and making his way over to where Malfoy stood holding the tray. He reached out a hand to take a piece of bacon, but Malfoy snatched the tray away before he could.

"You're not getting any of this until you're dressed and ready to go to class," he said, holding the tray aloft. "And you'd best hurry or it will get cold." Harry scowled and his head throbbed as his forehead crinkled. He made his way to the bathroom in frustration and stumbled into the shower where the warm water soothed his aching head somewhat.

He emerged from the shower fifteen minutes later, all traces of the previous night washed away apart from the ever present headache. He made his way over to the sink, ran the cold tap and splashed some water on his face. Looking up at his reflection in the mirror, Harry let the stilted memories of the night before wash over him again. Had this face, with its bright green eyes and lightning bolt scar, really kissed Draco Malfoy? Harry ran a hand through his wet hair and it stuck up straight from his head. He sighed and flattened it back down before leaning his head on the cool mirror surface.

"Potter!" Malfoy's irritated voice floated through the door and was promptly followed by the blonde himself. "What's taking you so long?"

"I don't function well with a headache," Harry mumbled, his head still pressed against the mirror. Looking sideways at the other boy, Harry thought he saw a flash of concern cross his pale features. "Ow," he added for effect.

"Fine," Malfoy snapped. He strode over to him and tapped Harry's head. Immediately the pain receded and Harry stood up properly. "Now hurry up and get dressed." He left the bathroom again and Harry followed him back out to the bedroom. His bed was made and his uniform was laid out on top.

"Did you-?" Harry began to ask and Malfoy nodded. He looked uncomfortable, so Harry didn't press the subject. "Thanks." Malfoy said nothing, but stared at the opposite wall as Harry changed.

Once Harry had put on his tie - crooked - and Malfoy had straightened it, they left the room together, Harry hurriedly stuffing his breakfast in his mouth as they walked.

"If we're late-" Malfoy started in an admonishing tone.

"-You'll what?" Harry asked through a mouthful of toast. "Take away my lunch?"

"I was going to say hit you, but that could work too."

"You can't take away my lunch. It's in the Great Hall. Free for all food fest!" Harry cried, punching the air. Malfoy slapped a hand to his forehead in exasperation but said nothing. They reached the front door of the house, where the hall was still decorated in the pirate theme, and Dobby appeared from the kitchen to take Harry's tray.

"Professor McGonnagall gave Dobby your new schedules, Harry Potter, sir," the tiny elf squeaked from beneath the tray. "Dobby has them here." A small hand with four rolled pieces of parchment made its way out from under the tray. They reached out and took the scrolls from Dobby.

"Who are the other two for Dobby?" Harry asked. "I thought everyone else had left already." But the elf had already left, bobbing his way through the dining room with the tray above his head. Harry looked down at the scrolls and read the names H. Granger and Z. Smith.

Harry frowned. What was Hermione still doing in their house? He turned to ask Malfoy, but the blonde was already halfway out the door. He shrugged and left the scrolls by the door, resolved to ask Hermione about it later.

"Wait," he called, jogging to catch up with his roommate who was now several paces ahead of him.

"We're going to be late, Potter," Malfoy snapped, not turning to look at him, but striding faster towards the castle. "So, move your skinny arse."

"I'm doing that," Harry replied, half-running to catch up. "Would you like me to move it differently? Suggestively maybe?" He attempted to wiggle his hips as he ran only to find it very difficult.

"No, do not move your arse suggestively. That would not be good right now."

"Why not?" Harry asked. He was now walking beside the blonde, who was looking slightly flustered.

"Well, let's just say Justin Finch Fletchley left much to be desired. And we have Potions now. Or I do, and I need a clear head for that."

"Potions? Really?" Harry asked and then he laughed. "Me too."

"Buggery."

"What's that? Talk of sodomy?" Harry asked. He was enjoying himself. It was a rare thing when he had the upper hand in a verbal spar with Malfoy. The blonde stopped walking and turned to face him.

"Look," he said in a measured tone. "Do you want me to take you right here, right now because I can't help myself any longer? Or do you want to get to class?" Harry took a surprised step backwards. He steadied himself and then said,

"Take me." His mouth quirked into a half smile as Malfoy's eyebrows shot up in shock. The blonde took a halting step towards him.

"No," Malfoy said suddenly, more to himself than to Harry. "We can't miss the first class of the year." He turned and walked with great deliberation towards the castle, leaving Harry staring at his departing back.

* * *

Please don't kill me for the Zach/Hermione. I like to mix around the other pairings. But as we can see. THERE WAS NO HARRY/BLAISE so that is good.

Also, just want to recommend **DrarryForever-x**'s awesome fic_ Beautiful Disaster_. It is most excellent. And I review every single chapter of it. (I'm a good reviewer) Oh hey, you know what I like? Good reviewers. And good reviews. And average reviews too. Basically, I like to feel the love. And faves and alerts feel more like one night stands than love. Ooh metaphor. (NOT THAT I DON'T LIKE THAT YOU FAVOURITE/ALERT ME, I just like words. Hence there are 4,313 words in this chapter) So, to quote James Blunt, "c'mon and give me some love".

Oh and THANK YOU to all of you who do review. This story is for you!

...Riyan...


	8. Chapter 8

Quick turn around time and a NEW CHAPTER has been written! Not as long as the last one. But that one was in the works for about a month of travel time. Not sure when the next update will be. Am driving across the country starting on Sunday. (And am damn excited about it.) But. Enough of me. ON WITH THE STORY.

...Riyan...

* * *

Harry stood for a moment and contemplated what had just happened. Had Malfoy really just propositioned him? And had he really just accepted? He sighed and began to follow the now distant blonde. He supposed it wasn't a stretch to imagine wanting to sleep with Malfoy. He was a very good looking young man, but it might cause problems for the rest of the year as they lived in the same room.

He shuddered as he remembered how awkward it had been with Seamus the morning after they had drunkenly fallen in bed with each other for the first time. The awkwardness had only dissipated after the second time and they realised there might be something between them. He could not risk a year of awkward roommate interaction for a one night stand. Even though it would technically have been a one day stand.

He had now reached the front doors of the castle and he pushed them open, all the while pushing thoughts of Malfoy out of his mind. The blonde had disappeared inside the castle a minute ago and was no longer in the entrance hall.

Harry glanced down at his schedule again, fervently willing it to say something other than Double Potions. The green words sat, unmoving on the page, spelling out his doom. He sighed and turned his walk towards the stairs that led down to the dungeon. He took them two at a time, not wanting to be late for Snape's first class of the year, and sprinted the corridor when he heard voices issuing from the classroom.

He arrived just as Snape entered from his office through the door at the other side of the classroom and sat down hurriedly at the first seat he came to.

"Good morning, class," Snape said in his oily voice, which no amount of clean hair could change. "Welcome to Advanced Potions." He surveyed the class from under his now shiny, clean hair. "Please get out your books." Everyone scrambled to do so, including Harry, who took the opportunity to see who was on his table. His eyes met the scowling grey eyes of Malfoy and his stomach flipped uncomfortably. Turning his head to the right, he saw Dean's lanky form, Seamus's laconical grin and Ron's shock of red hair.

"Take note of your seats," Snape said over the rustle of bags, snapping Harry's focus back to the classroom. "As they will be yours for the rest of the year." Harry glanced over at Malfoy again to see a strange look on the Blonde Egotist's face which he could not read. Was is despair? Or concealed elation? Or even sexual frustration?

His thoughts were interrupted by the late and noisy arrival of Hermione. She stammered an apology to Snape and threw herself down at the nearest table, next to Ron and Seamus. Snape said nothing, only continued with the lesson.

"Today we'll be brewing the Draught of Liquid Courage."

"Isn't that just alcohol?" Seamus asked in a stage whisper to Dean and several people laughed.

"No," Snape said wearily. "It's not, Finnegan." Harry crinkled his brow in confusion. The old Snape would have given out detention for a remark like that. Perhaps Potions wouldn't be so bad after all. "Now, everyone turn to page twelve of your text books and read over the instructions carefully."

They spent the next few minutes reading over the Draught of Liquid Courage and then the next ten copying down Snape's notes from the board, which Harry recognised to be improvements from the Half Blood Prince, who was, of course, Snape himself. He smiled to himself. With Snape teaching them the tricks he knew, the whole class would probably ace their NEWTs. He quite liked the new Snape.

"Now then," Snape said once they had finished taking notes. "Partner up with the person next to you and get to work." There was an awkward moment in which Ron looked from Harry to Hermione and Hermione looked from Ron to Seamus.

"Potter, will you be my partner?" Malfoy asked quietly. Harry looked at him, surprised and then nodded. Ron looked relieved and Dean happily turned to Seamus and said,

"Well, Shame, it looks like it's you and me, mate." And the awkward moment was dissipated.

Harry turned to face Malfoy, but the blonde had already gone to the store cupboard to get their ingredients. He had gone so quickly, Harry hadn't even noticed his departure. He sat, twiddling his thumbs, and watched the others as he waited for the blonde's return. Seamus was talking animatedly to Dean about the new housing and Ron and Hermione were arguing.

"Smith? Really Hermione? That slimeball?" Ron asked, anger evident in his tone.

"Ron," Hermione snapped back. "This is not the time to be discussing this."

"You think I care if it's a _good time_?" Ron asked. Hermione made a noise of anger, shook her head and hurried off to the stock cupboard, textbook in hand.

"Honestly," Ron said, turning to Harry. "She's got nerve."

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"She spent the night in _Zacharias Smith's_ bed." He said The Obnoxious Hufflepuff's name with such venom that even Harry flinched.

"So what?" he asked. "It's none of your business." Ron's face turned a darker shade of red, but Harry was saved from his response by the return of Malfoy who was heavily laden with ingredients.

"There," the blonde said, putting everything down on the table. "That should be all of it." His face was slightly flushed from the exertion and Harry's heart began to hammer at the sight. "Let's do this." Harry pulled his textbook over to Malfoy's part of the table where the blonde began to set up his cauldron.

The next hour was spent following the book and Snape's instructions and by the end of the lesson everyone had near perfect blood red potions.

"Well done, class," Snape drawled. "For once we may have a class who will get straight O's in their NEWTs." He gave a small, half hearted smile and then walked out of the classroom.

"That was awesome, right?" Ron asked as they filed out of the classroom. Harry nodded absentmindedly. His thoughts were on things other than the lesson. They had strayed back to his roommate and now "lab partner" of sorts. Malfoy had left the classroom as soon as class had ended, leaving Harry to walk out with Ron and Hermione who had been bickering up until the moment when Harry joined them.

"It's strange, isn't it?" Hermione mused. "Having Snape actually teach us useful things. I mean, they were useful without his _tweakings_ to the instructions, but now we're all able to make perfect potions." Harry smiled. It was funny to see Hermione's reaction the "Half Blood Prince's" instructions now that she was following them too.

"So now it's okay to deviate from the text book, Mione?" Harry asked, smirking as she glared sideways at him.

"Well, yes," she replied, her tone flustered. "It's okay when the teacher, who is a world renowned Potions Master, is the one making the changes." As Hermione said the phrase "Potions Master", a song from Harry's childhood floated into his mind.

"To be a Master," he began to sing. "Pokèmon Master. I will be writin' a brand new chapter. Pokèmon GO, GO! Na, na, na, na, na…" And to Ron and Hermione's great horror, he began to dance down the corridor, still singing, the second time through changing the word Pokèmon with Potions.

"Should we just pretend we don't know him?" Ron asked. Hermione nodded, their quarrel about Zacharias Smith momentarily forgotten as they united in their quest to get away from Harry.

Harry himself was oblivious to his two best friends' antics as he danced his way down the corridor, a wide grin plastered on his face, though he had no idea why he was so elated. It definitely had nothing to do with spending and entire lesson working with a particular blonde.

He stopped, mid pelvic thrust, when he realised that he didn't know where he was going next and hurriedly pulled his schedule out of his back pocket. He unfolded it and consulted the emerald green words. Cursing softly when he realised that he had to climb six flights of stairs in order to get to his next class, Harry hurried off to Transfiguration class, the Potions Master song now long gone from his mind.

He skidded to a halt outside of Professor McGonagall's classroom and straightened his shirt before entering at a slower pace. Sure enough, Harry spotted a platinum blonde head among the crowd of students in the room and it was next to an empty seat. He walked over to Malfoy and his empty seat and asked,

"Is this seat taken?" in his best flirtatious voice.

"Yes," Malfoy replied, without looking up.

"Really?" Harry asked. "By whom?"

"My invisible friend, Burt."

"Would Burt mind me sitting on top of him?" Harry asked, playing along.

"If Burt wanted a lap dance he could go to a strip club," Malfoy replied, looking up at Harry from under his eyelashes.

"And if I desperately wanted to give him a lap dance?"

"Then you should get a job at one." The corner of Malfoy's lips pulled back, showing his teeth in a smirk that had the same feral qualities as his smile first thing in the morning.

"Okay, Malfoy," Harry said. "You win the repartee. Now can I sit here?"

"No," Malfoy said. There was amusement in his tone.

"But there aren't any other seats," Harry said, looking around the classroom. It was true. The classroom had filled during their exchange.

"Well shit. I guess you have to then." The blonde winked at him before turning his eyes forward. Harry smiled in amusement as he slid into his seat.

"You're a special one, Draco Malfoy," he said quietly, more to himself than to the blonde.

"You don't know the half of it," the blonde replied, piquing Harry's interest just as McGonagall swept into the room and demanded silence.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. Malfoy allowed Harry to eat lunch and tactfully avoided answering any of the questions Harry threw at him about what he had said in Transfiguration.

The rest of the week passed in a similar manner to that first Monday, with the exception of the hangover. Every morning Harry awoke to find Malfoy lounging in a chair, waiting for him to get up. And every morning Harry's breakfast or lack thereof would be used to spur Harry into movement. Every morning while Harry was in the shower, Malfoy laid out his clothes on the bed, ready for him to put on. And every morning Malfoy would fix Harry's tie.

They were never late to class and shared all the same classes. A fact which Harry remarked upon, only to receive the reply:

"Well, we're both striving to be the same thing, aren't we?"

This had come as a shock to Harry, who had never pictured the blonde as an Auror. This view changed when they first shared a Defense Against the Dark Arts class together where Draco performed the best counter jinx Harry had ever seen. Upon asking, Malfoy had muttered something about necessity and then said nothing more on the matter.

There had been no more talk of their unresolved sexual tension, though Harry could feel it growing with every lesson he spent sitting next to or working with the blonde. The moments when their hands would brush in Potions were filled with charge and their conversations were filled with poorly concealed flirtation. And yet, neither of them acted upon the feelings that were blossoming in their chests.

Every time Harry thought about it, denial would rear its ugly head and give him ten reasons to believe that whatever was between him and the blonde was nothing, mere coincidence of words or actions or of their constant close proximity to each other. What would Draco see in him anyway?

Questions like that would keep Harry awake, tossing and turning, while Malfoy moved about the room, tidying or working. Harry often wondered why the blonde never seemed to sleep. He asked him once on the way to class but Draco had said he did sleep, he just went to bed after Harry did.

Sure enough, with the weekend coming into view, another Seventh Year house announced that they were holding a party. Hermione's house, Griffiths, had sent out invitations on Thursday morning for a Muggle Professions party on Saturday night, which left Friday open for more House bonding (not bondage as Neville had acidentally said when he first suggested the idea).

"I think," said Seamus over lunch on Friday, "that we should have a classy wine and cheese party tonight. Just the house, y'know."

"Wine and cheese party?" Blaise asked, his eyebrows raised in incredulity.

"Yeah, we can be classy ass motherfuckers."

"Repeat that sentence to yourself and tell me if it sounds at all classy."

"Touché."

"We could play chess," Neville suggested.

"Snoozefest," Malfoy said, throwing his head back and snoring.

"Exploding snap?" Zacharias hazarded.

"Yeah, if we were twelve."

"How about Cauldron Full O' Hot Love?" Blaise asked, a smirk gracing his face.

"I like the way you think, Zabini," Draco said. The rest of the group gave him a blank look. "You lot don't know Cauldron Full O' Hot Love?"

"Well, I know the Celestina Warbeck song," Neville said. "But something tells me that's not what you're talking about." Malfoy and Blaise looked at each other, their expressions mirrored in amusement.

"No it's not," Draco said. "Nothing to do with the song actually."

"How do you play?" Harry asked. Draco laughed.

"You'll see."

* * *

Not much of a cliff hanger. But that's okay. I bet you're all eagerly awaiting what Cauldron Full O' Hot Love is, aren't you? Yes, yes you are. Also. Score, I managed a Pokèmon reference in this chapter. I win. Perhaps I can get some Star Trek into the next one.

Live long and prosper (until next time). (OH. AND REVIEW. PLEASE.)

...Riyan... (no. I do not take myself at all seriously)


	9. Chapter 9

I realise I am the worst updater EVER. And that it has been an entire semester at school without an update. School work got in the way. Among other things.

But no time to dwell on the past. Here is a new update! And hopefully it won't take an entire semester for the next update to appear.

...Riyan...

* * *

"So," Harry said as he began loosening his tie with his right hand and walked down the one of the corridors of Llewellyn. "How does this game work?"He opened the door of his and Malfoy's room with his other hand and crossed the threshold.

"Well," his blonde roommate said, following him. "There's a lot of drinking involved."

"How am I not surprised?" Harry asked, a smirk crossing his face. Draco frowned at him. "What? All you Slytherins seemed to do was play drinking games! Or at least you guys know all the good ones."

"What can I say?" Malfoy said, his feral smile in place. "To quote Seamus earlier, we were 'classy ass motherfuckers.'" Harry laughed. He strode over to his bed and sat down on it, flinging his tie into the corner of the room. A moment later, Malfoy had picked it up and placed it on his dresser.

"Damn it, Potter," he said. "You're going to wrinkle your tie if you just throw it in the corner like that."

"Why do you even care?" Harry asked.

"Mild OCD." Again Harry wondered about Draco's use of the word mild, but said nothing of it.

"Fair enough," he said. "Shall I take off my shirt delicately as well?" Malfoy's eyes narrowed as he glared at the offending brunette.

"No," he said after a moment of icy staring. "Just put it on a hanger." Harry looked at his feet, glad to free of the glare. There was a **crack **and Dobby appeared, breaking what was shaping up to be an awkward silence to rival all others. There was a piece of paper clutched in his hand, which he proffered at Harry.

"Master Finnegan ordered me to give this to you," he squeaked and Harry took the paper. He opened it to find an assignment written in Seamus's scrawling handwriting.

**To:** Agent Potter

**AKA: **The-Boy-Who-Lived-To-Give-Good-Head

**From: **Agent Finnegan

**AKA: **Too Hot To Touch

**Special Covert Operation Assignment – Cryptic Assignment Name Goes Here**

**Assignment:** Steal a cauldron from someone in another house. Why? Because playing Cauldron Full O' Hot Love will be infinitely more fun with a stolen cauldron. Plus someone might come over halfway through the game demanding their cauldron back and end up joining in on the game. Or it could start an inter house war. The possibilities are both endless and also fun.

**Field Notes:** If you steal a boy's cauldron, make sure it's clean. DO NOT steal Ron Weasley's. We will make you clean it yourself if you do. And then you might die. Which would be bad.

**Field Notes 2:** Do not steal Hermione's cauldron. This would result in us getting hexed. This is not fun. Prank wars = fun. Getting hexed by Hermione = Hospital Wing

**Field Notes 3:** You may bring someone to help you, just as long as it's not Agent Longbottom aka Lieutenant Sulu. He might get distracted by plants along the way.

**Field Notes 4:** Try and work out the rules of Cauldron Full O' Hot Love from Agent Malfoy aka Blondie Bear.

Harry looked up to find Draco reading over his shoulder. Harry jumped. He had not heard Malfoy come up behind him.

"I'm not explaining the rules," the blonde said, walking over to his bed and sitting on the edge of it. "That would ruin the surprise." Harry scowled but said nothing. He folded the piece of paper and rubbed his face with his left hand. He did not have the energy to go and steal a cauldron, but he knew that if he didn't, Seamus would hex him and he really didn't want that.

"Will you come with me to steal a cauldron?" Harry asked. He also did not want to go alone. Draco looked up from retying his shoes.

"Sure," he said. "When do you want to go?" Harry furrowed his brow in thought for a moment.

"Er, now?" he hazarded. He walked over to his trunk and fumbled around for his invisibility cloak.

"What are you looking for?" Malfoy asked.

"My invisibility cloak," Harry said in his 'duh' voice. Draco nodded noncommittally, as if to show that he was unimpressed by this.

"Are we allowed to use that?" the blonde asked.

"Seamus hasn't said we can't," Harry replied. He gave the sheet of paper to Malfoy as he continued to rummage in his trunk. He held it up triumphantly and looked over at his partner in crime. Draco was frowning at the sheet of paper. "What?"

"Why are you 'The-Boy-Who-Lived-To-Give-Good-Head? And why am I Blondie Bear?" Draco asked, his eyes narrowed.

"Er," Harry said, looking down at his feet. "You weren't meant to see my nickname. That was Seamus's special name for me, from before, when we were… you know… dating."

"Interesting," Malfoy said. "Very interesting." Harry felt his face turn red and he wished that the ground would swallow him up. "I suppose my name comes from my hair." He shook his head and the offending locks waved in the air. Harry's heart skipped a beat and he swallowed nervously. He could feel that his face was still red and he wished it weren't. He wished he were as cool as Malfoy, able to nod nonchalantly at the fact that someone thought he was good at oral sex. But alas, he was not Malfoy. And he was embarrassed and awkward.

"So," Harry said, looking down at his invisibility cloak and running it through his hands. "Shall we get going?" His blonde partner in crime nodded and left the room. Harry hurried out of the room behind him, shutting the door as he went. Malfoy was standing at the bottom of the stairs waiting for him, and Harry found himself marveling at how quickly the other boy had gotten there.

"So whose cauldron are we stealing then?" Malfoy asked as Harry reached the bottom of the stairs.

"I was thinking perhaps Ernie MacMillan's," Harry replied. "I mean, he's still in Potions, and he's generally clean. Also, I feel like he would be one of the few people who would forgive us for stealing it if he came to reclaim it and would possibly join in the game."

"Sounds good," Draco replied, nodding. "Shall we?" he gestured towards the door. Harry pushed it open and they walked out into the deepening twilight.

When they neared Ernie's house, Harry pulled Draco towards him and threw the invisibility cloak over the two of them. There was barely room for the two of them under the cloak and they had to huddle close together as they walked. Harry could feel Draco's arm brushing his as they walked towards the house and he felt his heart began to race of its own accord. He frowned and walked resolutely on, trying to avoid touching the blonde and failing.

In concentrating on one thing, he had forgotten to look at his feet and so stumbled, grabbing onto Draco's arm to steady himself and thereby doing the thing he had so tried to avoid in touching the blonde. They stopped walking.

"Are you okay, Potter?" Draco asked, concern evident in his voice. Harry nodded.

"Yeah, just tripped over a patch of grass." They were about fifty meters from the house and would have been in plain sight but for the invisibility cloak. Draco took as step towards Harry and Harry became aware that he was still holding onto Draco's arm.

"Are you sure you're okay?" the blonde asked. "I can go get the cauldron on my own if you need me to. Seamus would never have to know."

"I can't ask you to-" Harry began, glancing quickly down at his feet. When he looked back up Draco was gone. "What the-?" Harry pulled the cloak off and waved it in the air before feeling foolish. Draco hadn't disappeared into the cloak. He had just… left. Very quickly. He heard a door open and close and he looked towards the house.

"The cloak," said a voice next to him. "Put the cloak over us." Harry turned his head and jumped. Malfoy was back. And he was holding a cauldron. "Quickly, you dumb fuck!" Draco snapped. He reached over and pulled the cloak out of Harry's dumbstruck hand. He pulled it over them in a hurry and Harry blinked.

"How-?" he started to ask. "What happen-? Where did you-? What the hell?" He ran out of words at that point and just stared at Draco in disbelief.

"Let's just say I always won the hundred meter dash at school," Malfoy said.

"But. That. Was. Seriously freaking fast. Faster than hundred meter dash fast. That was more like," Harry struggled to find an adequate simile. "More like concord fast. I mean, faster than sound fast. You know, the concord… The plane that…" Harry petered out at the amused smirk Malfoy was giving him. "You find my confusion funny, don't you?" Draco sniggered and nodded. Harry narrowed his eyes as he stared at his roommate. He struggled to find something to say that would wipe the smirk of Draco's face. "You know what," he said at long last.

"What?" Draco asked.

"You suck." And with that, Harry began to walk towards Llewellyn, forcing Malfoy to walk with him as he held onto the invisibility cloak. Malfoy said nothing, but rolled his eyes when Harry wasn't looking.

They trudged back to Llewellyn in silence. Harry was frustrated at the lack of answers Malfoy gave to his questions and Draco didn't want to anger Harry further. He needed to stay under the invisibility cloak in case an angry Ernie MacMillan emerged from the house he had just left. Not that he couldn't run away from Ernie fast enough, but rather that it was better if Ernie never knew who took the cauldron. As enthusiastic as Seamus was about the idea, Draco was wary of an inter house war. It sounded too much like the old house rivalries. He'd had more than enough of those to last him the rest of his school career.

Harry pulled off the cloak when they reached the front step of their house. While Seamus had said nothing about the invisibility cloak, Harry thought it best if the cloak be hidden when they walked in, lest the house deemed using the cloak as cheating and demanded a new cauldron.

They walked inside the house and Draco put the cauldron in the middle of the dining room table. Harry gave him a curt nod and began to head up the stairs to their shared room.

"You know," Malfoy called after him as he ascended. "The game doesn't require a cauldron." Harry stopped walking and spun angrily on the spot.

"Why didn't you say so before?" he hissed.

"Because you still needed to complete your assignment. Agent Boy-Who-Lived-To-Give-"

"-Alright!" Harry cried before Draco could get the full nickname out. "I get it. Whatever." He spun back around and stomped his way back to the bedroom, only to find the blonde had beaten him there. Just blood great.

* * *

Okay. So. Hopefully I will be a good updater. If not. Er. Well. I'm sorry.

R&R please! The more reviews I get, the worse I feel about not writing and the more likely I am to pick up a pen(/tap away at a keyboard)

Hope you liked this update though!

...Riyan...


	10. Chapter 10

Well, I know one thing is for sure. I can't write as fast as I used to. I blame college. So much to do, so little time. *sigh* Anyhow, new chapter!

...Riyan...

* * *

"How?" Harry spluttered. He was now so angry he could barely speak. "How did you get up here so fast?" Malfoy smirked.

"That's for me to know and you to-"

"-Why the hell won't you just tell me?" Harry interrupted, his voice rising to a yell.

"Because it's none of your damn business," Malfoy snapped. "Why the hell do you care if I'm half-" he stopped himself. "Just stay out of it." He crossed his arms and looked away from Harry. His brow creased into a frown. "Why the hell do you care, anyway?" he asked, still not looking at Harry. Harry ran a hand through his hair and walked across the room to his bed.

"I don't know," he said quietly, sitting down. "You get inside my head." Malfoy's head snapped up. "I'm not sure why. Perhaps because we live in such close proximity. I mean, I spend most of my time with you. And, you know what, I quite enjoy that. I almost find myself thinking of you as a friend." He glanced over at the blonde who was staring at him, slightly slack jawed. "But then you shut me out. You don't answer basic questions. I mean, I get that it's probably very personal, but that's what friends do. They share personal stuff like that." Malfoy's gaze shifted from Harry to the floor.

"I guess I don't know what it's like to share things like that," he said after a moment of quiet. "I mean, I've had friends before. Take Blaise for example. He's probably my closest friend in the world. And I've trusted him with some things, but my father always told me knowledge was power and that it wasn't good to let anyone know everything about you. Only pieces."

Now it was Harry's turn to stare in amazement. He wasn't sure he'd ever heard Malfoy talk about something so personal before. At least not to him.

"Well, I don't believe that," Harry said. "I think it's nice to entrust people with things. A burden shared is a burden lightened, or whatever."

"I'll keep that in mind," Draco said. "But for the moment, I'm just not ready to share some things with you."

"That's fine," Harry said. "Just please, if you will, don't rub it in my face." Malfoy looked up and slowly nodded.

"Fine," he said. "Although you're taking away some of my fun."

"Yeah? Well, tough shit," Harry replied, a smile playing about his face. There was a moment where both of them looked at each other, and then they began to laugh.

"So, Potter, since you so love to share. What's that scar on your back?" Draco asked once the laughter had subsided. Harry looked away, his eyes roving the room.

"I got it in the last battle," he said quietly.

"I have one just like it," his roommate replied, equally as quiet. (A/N, I know, I've used this before in Summertime and the Living is Crazy. Having a lot of scars myself, I think they're interesting to write about. They always seem to come with an interesting story.)

"What?" Harry exclaimed. "How-?" he began before realization hit him.

"It was an accident. A fit of rage, and I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."Harry nodded, unable to speak.

"Can I see it?" he asked after a moment of staring dumbly at the floor. Malfoy shook his head.

"Not right now," he said. Harry cocked his head to the side. "I don't want to take my shirt off at the moment." Harry nodded.

"So how do you play Cauldron Full 'O Hot Love?" Harry asked by way of a conversation change.

"Merlin, Potter, you have no patience, do you?" The blonde's tone was exasperated but there was a smile playing about his face.

"Nope," Harry agreed with a laugh. Draco sighed.

"Well, to quote you, tough shit." Harry pouted, but Draco ignored him and left the room. Harry lay back on his bed. His head felt suddenly heavy as he realized how tired he was. He crawled onto his bed properly and shut his eyes for a much needed nap.

* * *

Ernie MacMillan was slightly miffed. His cauldron was missing and he wanted to make moonshine for the weekend. Damn it all to hell. Where could it have gone? He knew that he had left it next to his bed, on that particular flower on the carpet, next to his meticulously organized books.

"Winky!" he cried in frustration. That wretched house elf kept moving his things. The wretched house elf in question appeared with a loud CRACK at his side. He jumped and knocked one of his books off of the top of a pile.

"Master called?" Winky asked. Her hands were still covered in soap from the dishes she had been halfway through washing. She wiped them quickly on her towel toga.

"Where's my cauldron?" Ernie asked, turning to face the elf, his face tinged with an angry pink.

"Winky doesn't know, sir. Winky has not touched it."

"Then where could it have gone?"

"Winky doesn't know. Does master think someone took it?" Ernie nodded slowly. Winky patted him on the shoulder, not sure what else she should do. "Who?" she asked after a moment.

"I don't know," Ernie replied, his forehead creased in a frown.

"Does master want Winky to ask the security gnome?" Winky asked. Ernie's eyes lit up.

"Yes please, Winky," he said. Perhaps the elf wasn't so bad. "Better yet, can I talk to him?" Winky nodded and motioned for Ernie to follow her out of the room.

* * *

A short while later, the residents of Llewellyn were eating dinner. Half of the table were eating lots, in order to stave off the drunkenness which was sure to come about later that night, while the other half were eating less in anticipation of it.

"So, is everyone excited for the game tonight?" Blaise asked, looking up from his barely grazed plate. Neville nodded, not quite looking up from his overfilled plate of food which he was shoveling into his mouth. Harry nodded too, his fork with its speck of bacon halfway to his mouth. Draco didn't respond. His mouth was full of food, as was Zacharias's. Seamus was MIA, having eaten some of his burger and chips before running out of the room, claiming he had things to do.

The table fell back into silence. The only noise was the scraping of cutlery on plate. Harry pushed his food around his plate with his fork. Breakfast for dinner had seemed like a good idea at the time, but now, with the anticipation of the night's activity, he was too excited to eat. At least, that was what he kept telling himself. In reality, he wanted to get very drunk that night, and he wanted it to happen quickly. It had been a long week and he felt that he needed to unwind.

Having all of his classes with Malfoy was both enjoyable and stressful. He felt as though he was never away from the blonde, possibly because it was true. They spent almost every waking hour together. The only time spent apart being Quidditch practice which was still done in houses. And the constant company was tiring.

Perhaps it was because Harry knew so little about the blond, or perhaps it was because he knew quite a bit, but what he didn't know was so mysterious. Perhaps he was still suffering from the culture shock of not warring with the blond, but rather being friends. He didn't know, nor did he have the energy to worry about it.

And so tonight he was going to get drunk. And it would be great. Or so he hoped.

"Does anyone want to explain the rules of this game," Harry asked, hoping it was close enough to the actual playing time that someone would be lenient and explain. He was itching for his curiosity to be satiated. Draco and Blaise looked at each other, and as one, shook their heads. Harry sighed and put down his fork.

"You guys suck," he said, frowning in their general direction. Draco snorted in laughter.

"_We_ suck?" he asked, arching one of his eyebrows. "That's rich coming from you, given your nickname..." Harry felt his face flush. He should never have told the blonde about Seamus's nickname for him. Neville looked up from his plate in interest. Blaise cocked his head to the side. Zacharias looked uncomfortable. He didn't want to know about Harry's sex life. Harry was glad that Seamus was out of the room. He was sure the Irishman would have been rolling on the floor in laughter if he had still been there. And this embarrassment was quite enough without said laughter.

"What's Potter's nickname?" Blaise asked. Harry's eyes grew wide. He stared imploringly at his roommate, but the blonde smiled evilly.

"The-Boy-Who-Lived-To-" Draco began. Harry bolted from the room. He vaguely heard Draco finish his statement and the room erupt into somewhat awkward laughter, before he reached the stairs and took them two at a time. He walked into his room and fell onto his bed. Dobby had been in and turned his sheets down already, even though it was just after dinner. Harry debated whether or not to get under them, before realizing that if he were to get into bed properly, he would fall asleep and miss the evening's activities. And he did not want _that_. Not after all the anticipation of "Cauldron Full O' Hot Love".

He sighed and pulled himself into a sitting position. He wondered vaguely whether the others had finished eating or not. He thought perhaps he should sneak down the stairs and check, but then he heard footsteps on the stairs and he busied himself with the closest thing to his hands. Unfortunately this happened to be a pair of socks. He jumped to his feet as Seamus entered the room. The Irishman looked at him, head cocked to the side, for a moment before asking,

"What are you doing?" Harry glanced down at the pair of socks in his hands. He tossed them into the air, flinging his arms up as he did.

"Throwing socks around," he said. He ran over to his chest of drawers, opened the top one and began throwing more pairs into the air, shouting "Socks! Socks! Socks socks socks socks! Socks!" as the offending articles of clothing flew into the air. Seamus frowned, almost remembering the song that Harry was referencing from his brief foray into Muggle nightclubs over the summer, before shaking his head. (A/N. Got the idea from a TFLN (208):U sang "shots, shots, shots" then walked 2 ur top drawer and threw socks everywhere singin "SOCKS, SOCKS, SOCKS!")

"Oh Harry," Seamus said, his voice condescending. "What on earth possessed you to throw your socks around your room during dinner time?"

"Malfoy just revealed your nickname for me to the entire table."

"Ah," Seamus said. "Sorry about that. I probably shouldn't have written that on your Secret Assignment." Harry nodded. "Though it is true though. Best head I've ever had." Harry felt his face turn a deep shade of red. "What's embarrassing about that?" Seamus asked. He took a step closer to Harry. "I would say it was something to be proud of."

"Really?" Harry asked. "I mean, yes, I suppose it is, but that nickname officially outs me to the house." Seamus scrunched up his face as his winced in sympathy.

"Sorry," he said. He took another step closer to Harry and put a hand on the young man's shoulder. "Though you could be good at giving female head?" Harry shook his head. "Is that a no you're not? Or a no it couldn't be."

"Well, both really," Harry said, unconsciously moving closer to Seamus. "But more importantly, they know it was _your_ nickname for me. And as you're a boy…" He trailed off. Seamus lifted his hand to Harry's face and stroked his cheek in what he thought was a comforting manner. Harry leaned into the touch.

* * *

ZOMG. What's going to happen next??? WHO KNOWS? (Well, I do, but I'm not telling yet). Please review. It only takes a second and it fills me with joy. And also guilt which spurs me to greater writing speed. (I'm tired... BUT THE READERS WANT MORE. Sacrifice sleep I must...)

Anyhow. Hope you enjoyed that. I really must go sleep now. Dead tired. Zzzz...

...Riyan...


	11. Chapter 11

I know, I know. I haven't updated in forever. I fail. But here's almost 3,000 words for you.

...Riyan...

* * *

There was a moment where they both hesitated, and then Seamus dropped his hand. He picked up Harry's hand and swung it between them. Harry looked down at his shoes. He suddenly felt very awkward, which was strange as things had never been awkward between the two of them in the past. Harry looked up again and gave the other boy an awkward smile.

"You're a special one, Har," Seamus said. "And I don't just mean special when it comes to things below the belt. You're special up here." Seamus dropped Harry's hand and brought up his own to tap Harry on the side of the head. "In all meanings of the word special. Special as in 'Don't eat the Snargaluff Pods special' and special as in you're an extraordinary individual. Don't let anyone ever tell you differently – about the extraordinary bit, that is." Harry nodded and Seamus kissed him lingeringly on the mouth before turning to go. "See you at the game," he said, walking out of the door, passing – to Harry's horror – Malfoy as he left.

The blonde walked into the room. Harry busied himself with cleaning up his socks, which had been tossed into all sorts of unlikely places in his exuberance.

"Do I even want to know what was going on between you and Finnegan?" Malfoy asked. His tone was icy.

"Er, no, you don't," mumbled Harry. His cheeks flushed slightly and he turned his head away. He bent to pick up another sock.

"Accio Harry's socks," Malfoy said, waving his wand and pointing it to his bed. Harry's socks, including the ones left in Harry's sock drawer, the ones in his arms, and the two on his feet. Harry was knocked over in the process of his socks leaving his feet. Malfoy snickered.

"Thanks," Harry muttered. He picked himself up from the floor and walked over to the bed and scooping up the socks.

"Why were they on the floor in the first place?" Draco asked.

"I was singing a song about socks," Harry said, dumping the socks into his drawer. "And throwing them in the air." He pulled the pair of socks he had been wearing out of the mass of socks and sat down on the floor to put them back on

"And this led Finnegan to kiss you?"

"I thought you didn't want to know," Harry said, standing up again, socks now back on his feet.

"You're right," Malfoy snapped. "I don't." He turned abruptly and began fiddling with the magical CD player he had in the corner of the room. A moment later, music filled the room. Harry didn't recognize it. He liked it though. It had a good beat. He closed his sock drawer and walked over to his bed.

"How was the rest of dinner?" he asked by way of conversation.

"Fine," Malfoy said noncommittally. "You missed pudding. It was great. Fresh chocolate chip cookies."

"Bugger," Harry muttered.

"There are probably still some in the kitchen if you want some," Malfoy said. Harry thought about it for a moment. One of the song's lyrics processed itself in his head as he did so. _And if it comes down to me and him, you know I'd kiss you better_. Harry looked up. Draco was staring at him. Harry was not sure if this meant something, or whether it was coincidence.

"Perhaps I will go and get a cookie," he said. He stood up and crossed to the door.

"You know," the blonde said thoughtfully as he was leaving. "I would."

"Would what?" Harry asked, stopping in his tracks, halfway out of the door.

"Oh, nothing. Go get your cookie."

"No," Harry said. He turned around and walked defiantly back into the room. "What would you do?"

"Get a cookie."

"That's not what you meant."

"How would you know?"

"Because you would have said straight out that that was your intentional thing that you would do. You wouldn't have said nothing."

"Wouldn't I?"

"No?"

"Just go get your cookie, Potter," Draco said. Harry frowned, but nodded and left, still running the line of the song through his head and wondering if that was what Draco had meant when he said he would do. Kiss him better. Better than Seamus. Oh god. Why did the blonde have to see Seamus kiss him?

It was not like the kiss had even meant anything. It was just a passing thing. A memory of a time when things had been different. Different but not better, Harry decided. He was enjoying this year, which surprised him as he'd been convinced that he would hate it, given his roommate. But he liked his roommate. He chuckled as he thought that. He actually liked Malfoy. And Malfoy wanted to kiss him?

Well, kiss him again.

Harry wasn't even sure those first two kisses had really counted. They were drunken kisses. And one of them had been a dare.

Harry's thoughts ended abruptly as he reached the kitchen and the smell of fresh cookies hit his nose. Merlin they smelled good. All buttery and chocolatey.

The cookies were on a plate in the middle of the room. Seamus was sitting next to the plate, eating with a look of joy on his face.

"You wanted cookies too?" Harry asked. Seamus looked up, grinned and nodded. Harry smiled. He stepped forward and took two cookies from the plate. "I'll see you later." Seamus nodded and Harry went back to his room.

Draco was sprawled lazily in an armchair. He was reading and as Harry got closer, he recognized the book as one of his own: The Secret History. He had bought it in a Muggle bookshop at the end of the summer. He was surprised that the other boy liked it. Harry had always assumed that Malfoy kept far away from all things Muggle.

The blonde did not look up as Harry entered the room. Harry passed him and sat down on his bed to eat his cookies.

If they smelled good, it was nothing on how they tasted. They were still warm from the oven and they veritably melted in Harry's mouth.

"You were right," Harry said. Draco looked up. "About the cookies. They're delicious." The blonde nodded and returned to reading.

At that moment, Seamus burst into the room. His face was covered in chocolate and his eyes were wild.

"It's time!" he said excitedly. "It's finally time for them to explain the bloody rules of the game!" And he ran out of the room again. Harry took a moment to finish his cookies before standing up. His blonde roommate had not moved.

"Are you coming?" Harry asked. The blonde nodded and slowly closed the book.

"Aren't you going to run after Finnegan?" Malfoy asked.

"Why would I?" retorted Harry.

"You two had a thing, and it appears to have started back up again. So go join him." Draco gesticulated down the corridor. Harry nearly stopped walking.

"What?" he cried. "You think that what you saw was Seamus and I getting back together?"

"Well, wasn't it?"

"No!" Harry said with force. "We're just friends. Very close friends who have little respect for each other's personal bubbles. Or rather Seamus has little respect for my personal bubble."

"So you're not with Finnegan?"

"No, I'm not! Why do you care anyway?"

"I don't," Draco said, increasing his pace. The rest of the walk to the living room was carried out in silence.

The other house members were waiting for them, in a room that the overexcited Seamus had prepared for the night. He had obviously been to Hogsmeade and bought out the supermarket's liquor section. Around the table, also stood many different fruit juices and fizzy drinks.

"Merlin, Finnegan," Draco said. "We don't need nearly that much alcohol."

"Well, I wanted to have variety. I asked another ex Slytherin the rules of the game, and decided that having lots of choices would be best."

Ernie's cauldron stood in the middle of the table. It was filled to the brim with bubbling pink goo. Seamus explained that the cauldron was for ambience only. Blaise nodded.

"So will someone please explain the rules to me, then?" Harry asked. Draco sighed beside him. Harry turned and glared at the offending blonde.

"See that glass in the middle of the table?" Draco asked, pointing to a large goblet that sat in the middle of all the liquor bottles. Harry nodded. "Well, you go around in a circle, and each person puts one shot of something - juice, alcohol, what have you - in the glass. When it's full, the person after the person who poured the last measure has to drink it. Now, we're not heathens, so you don't have to down it. You can drink it over time, while the next round goes on. You also have the choice of drinking before the cup's full, if you look around and realize it's going to be you who will have to drink. But if you do this, you must also take a forfeit. You may also make someone else drink for you, but again, you have to take a forfeit."

"So basically, the point of this game is to get everyone highly intoxicated and to do stupid things?" Harry asked.

"Correct," replied Blaise. Harry turned his head to look at the other boy. Blaise winked at him.

"Sounds like fun!" Harry cried. He walked over to the nearest couch and sat down. Draco sat next to him. He had a slight scowl on his face. His eyes were fixed on Blaise for reasons which Harry couldn't fathom.

"Alright," Seamus cried. "I'll start." Everyone laughed. He stood up, walked over to the table and poured a shot glass full of tequila in the glass. Blaise went next and added a shot of orange juice. Zacharias added cranberry juice. Neville's eyes darted around the table, trying to determine whether or not he would be the person who would have to drink the drink.

"Wait!" Seamus cried as Neville reached forward. Neville froze. "Let's also play with the International Drinking Rules!"

"Before we start that Seamus," Blaise said. "Let's be clear on what your rules are."

"No first names, no pointing, no swearing and no saying the word drink," Seamus replied. Harry nodded in agreement.

"So, you don't play no taking the little man off of your cup?" Seamus and Harry shook their heads. "Can you drink with either hand?"

"Yep. And since we all don't have drinks yet, it starts after we all have something. Sound good?" There were murmurs of consent from around the table. Neville nodded, then leaned forward and added a measure of rum. Zacharias caught Neville's eye and grinned as he realized that the round faced boy had made their "Secret Mixture".

By this time, the glass was half full of what was now a brownish orange mixture. Harry looked at it, wondering if he should be the first to take a forfeit and drink the concoction before it became too disgusting. There was a definite chance that the glass would be filled to the brim on his turn if he let it go around again. He sighed, picked up a bottle of pineapple juice and added a measure of the juice to the glass. If it did come around again, it would at least be one shot weaker.

Draco added a shot of white rum during his turn and then all eyes turned to Seamus again. The glass was now about three quarters full. Zacharias glanced from the glass to Seamus and then to Blaise with worried eyes. He could tell it would be him who would have to drink the mixture. There was only room in the glass for 2 more full shots. He sighed, resigned to his fate as Seamus added lime juice and then Blaise proceeded to add another shot of tequila.

He looked up. Everyone was staring at him. He grinned sheepishly.

"I guess I have to drink this then?" he asked. Malfoy nodded.

"Fair enough," he said. "I hope it's not too disgusting." He picked up the glass and smelled it tentatively. It smelled like tequila and he unconsciously wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"You should probably stir that first," Neville said. He ran into the kitchen and returned a moment later, holding a spoon which he gave to the blonde ex-Hufflepuff.

Zacharias took the spoon gratefully and spun it a few times around the glass. He took a tentative sip and made a face. Everyone around the table laughed and the game began again. Vodka, fizzy lemonade, orange juice, vodka, cointreau, orange juice, ginger ale, and then it was Harry's turn. He looked at the glass and then looked at Malfoy, who would be the recipient of the drink. To screw him over? Or to be nice? He decided on the latter and poured a measure of orange juice in the cup. There would be time later in the game to screw the blonde over.

He glanced over at the offending blonde. One eyebrow was arched as he stared back, but other than that his face remained emotionless. Malfoy leaned forward and picked up his glass. He stirred the drink with his wand and then proceeded to drink.

And so the game continued, until everyone had drinks of various strengths in their hands. Then it became more interesting. As the Slytherins explained, no one could have two drinks at once, so if they were the next to get a glass, they would have to down the rest of their drink before the game could continue. This gave people more incentive to pass on their drinks and take the forfeit in order to have someone else have to drink it for one of two reasons. Most of the time people passed their drink on because they still had a nearly full glass from the last time the drink in the middle was given to them, but occasionally, once Malfoy had started the trend, they would pass the drink onto someone who had a pretty full glass in order that they would have to chug the drink.

Harry, naturally, was the first person to have this happen to him. He scowled as he watched the blonde give a tomato-red Neville a dared lap dance before bringing his glass to his lips. He tipped his head back just as Malfoy looked in his direction and smirked. Harry screwed up his face as the alcohol entered his mouth. Who the fuck thought mixing tequila with vodka was a good plan? The liquid stung as it made its way down his throat.

Seamus started chanting "Drink, drink, drink," as he continued to pour the foul concoction down his throat. He mentally counted how many times the Irishman said the "d" word. He tipped the glass a little further and drank the last of the mixture. He put his glass down on the table in triumph, then pointed at Seamus with his elbow.

"Imbibe, Finnegan," he said. The excited smile on Seamus's face morphed into a look of '_oh shit'_. "Ten times." Seamus's shoulders sank, but he lifted his glass to his mouth and took ten sips.

The next time the final turn landed on Harry, he immediately gave the drink to Malfoy. The blonde smirked at him.

"What's Potter's dare to be then?" he asked, picking up his remaining drink and downing it with a small shudder.

"Stripper dance," said Seamus.

"Make out with someone," said Blaise. Malfoy's eyes narrowed.

"Run around the house naked," said Zacharias.

"Play spin the bottle and kiss whoever it lands on," said Seamus. There was a murmur of agreement. Harry sighed and picked out a bottle from the table.

* * *

Ernie was very miffed now. The security gnome had been of no use, even after an hour of interrogation with his special techniques. Apparently only his security gnome at home hated being poked with cocktail sticks.

All the gnome had seen was "a slight blur" going into the house at around five and another blur coming out of the house ten seconds later. What could have made that kind of blur? Ernie didn't know anythgin that moved that fast. Harumph. There were no leads. Perhaps one of his housemates would let him borrow their cauldron. It _was_ for the house's benefit after all. Everyone loved Ernie's moonshine.

* * *

Harry watched the bottle spin with his heart in his stomach. He prayed it would land on someone other than Zacharias or Neville. He could deal with kissing anyone else other than those two. Neville was just so awkward and Zacharias… well… Harry still didn't like him that much. The bottle began to slow. Harry's stomach clenched in nervous anticipation.

* * *

And that's where the chapter ends. Hopefully because it's the summer the next chapter will be up shortly. But I can't make any promises... (sorry)

Please review. Otherwise I might think you don't care and therefore won't bother to write any more.

...Riyan...


	12. Chapter 12

So, this chapter's rather short, but I liked where it ended, so... here it is! Thank you, by the way, to all my wonderful reviewers!

...Riyan...

* * *

The bottle stopped on Malfoy. Harry's stomach did a nervous flip. He looked up and caught the blonde's eye. Was it his imagination or did Malfoy look almost excited? It was probably his imagination. Why would he be excited? They were just friends, if that. Weren't they? The song that Draco had played after Seamus had kissed him floated back into Harry's mind. _And if it comes down to me and him, you know I'd kiss you better_. Did Malfoy really mean that? Well either way, they were going to kiss now.

Why did it seem that every time they got drunk together, they ended up kissing? Well, Harry wasn't complaining. He stood up, swaying slightly with the alcohol in his system, and walked over to Malfoy who likewise stood. Harry was very aware of everyone's eyes on them as he leaned towards the blonde.

Their mouths brushed for a second and then they pressed themselves hungrily together. Harry could taste Malfoy's drink in his mouth. He was amazed that all Malfoy had done was wince when he had downed it. Harry pressed himself further against the blonde and he felt Malfoy's hand lightly touch the small of his back. He reached out tentatively with his tongue and ran it over Malfoy's bottom lip. The blonde's lips parted to allow him in. He felt Draco's tongue flick hesitantly against his and he pushed his forward, battling for real estate in the blond's mouth.

He was acutely aware of Draco's hand on his back and exactly where his own hands were, placed on either side of Draco's torso pulling the boy ever closer. His hands were bunched in Malfoy's shirt, wanting to lift the shirt off of his frame, but resisting. Malfoy's other hand came up and wound its way into Harry's hair.

Surely this had to be more than just a dare?

"You can stop now," came Blaise's voice from somewhere to Harry's left, reminding him that it was, in fact, a dare. He pulled slowly away. He glanced up and caught Draco's eye as he did and saw the other boy looked as disappointed as he felt that the kiss had to end.

Harry began to harbor a small hope that it might continue after the game, which continued in earnest. They shrunk the size of the cup in order to slow the game down more once everyone had finished at least one tall drink. No one wanted to get alcohol poisoning, though they knew they could take a "sober up" potion if it got to that point.

Harry was itching for the game to be over. It was getting a little bit repetitive and he wanted to see if his theory about Draco was correct. In his drunken haze, he wanted nothing more than the blond boy's mouth on his own. The next time the drink ended on him, he suggested that they play something else.

"Such as what?" inquired Zacharias.

"I don't know," Harry said. "I just feel like I can't take a whole lot more of these concoctions." Harry was still careful not to use the word "drink" as he was unsure whether or not they were still playing by the International Drinking Rules.

"We could play Kings again," Blaise suggested.

"Don't be daft. Potter doesn't understand it well enough for him to play at this level of intoxication," Malfoy said.

"To be fair," Harry interjected. "I was at a similar level of intoxication last time we attempted to play."

"Precisely," Draco said. "You didn't understand the rules then, so you're damn well not going to understand them now."

"Up the river down the river?" suggested Zacharias. He was met with confused faces. "Never mind." He shook his head.

"Do you all just want to call it a night?" Neville asked. Everyone turned to stare at him. He turned red. "I mean, as a house. You could go visit other houses…" He stared down at his hands which he clasped and unclasped in his lap.

"Yeah!" Seamus cried. "Let's go see if Ernie misses his cauldron!" There was muttered consent around the room.

"I need to go get proper shoes first," Draco said.

"Then go get them," Seamus said. "Everyone who wants to go harass Ernie should be back in the entrance hall in ten minutes. I'm going to go rinse out this cauldron." He stood and took the offending potion equipment away.

Harry watched as Draco stood and made his way out of the room, accidentally catching the blond's eye as he turned his head to look back at the room. Harry felt his face flush and saw a grin spread across Draco's face. Malfoy left the room and Harry stayed on the sofa for all of three seconds before he got up and followed.

His mind was racing, filled with possibilities of what that smile meant. Was Malfoy just toying with him? Probably. Draco did love to make Harry upset/angry/confused whenever possible. Harry was almost convinced that it was the blond's sole purpose in life.

Of course, the blond was already there when Harry reached their shared room. He was lounging on his bed, but slowly got to his feet as Harry entered the room.

"Hi," Harry said.

"Why do we always end up kissing when we get drunk?" Malfoy asked, closing the distance between them with a few steps. They were now so close that Harry could feel the warmth from Malfoy's body through his clothes.

"I don't know," Harry said, looking anywhere but at Draco's face.

"I think," Draco said, bringing a hand up and running it down Harry's cheek. "I think it's because you find me attractive."

"No," Harry spluttered, looking up at the blond.

"So you don't?" Malfoy asked, arching a perfect eyebrow.

"I-" Harry began.

"Because I think you are."

"What?" Harry asked, his eyes widening.

"I think you're attractive," Draco said. His fingers traced their way slowly down Harry's chest and Harry shivered. "In a sort of scruffy way." Harry's mouth was suddenly dry. He didn't know what to say and he didn't think he could speak even if he had wanted to. "But I guess I had best transfer said attraction elsewhere because it's obviously not reciprocated." He took his hand away from Harry's torso.

"No," Harry managed to force from between his lips. "I- you _are_ attractive. You're fucking gorgeous."

* * *

Yes. I do love cliffhangers.

Well, until next time... Tell me what you think! (see how fast that chapter came about thanks to the reviews?)

...Riyan...


	13. Chapter 13

I know, I know. It took me a while to write. But this kind of stuff takes me AGES to write. I feel like I have my grandmother sitting on my shoulder and looking disapprovingly at the words. (Also I wrote the worst of it on a plane next to an adorable old man, which made it MORE awkward. _**SO YOU'D BETTER ENJOY IT AND TELL ME HOW MUCH YOU ENJOYED IT.**_)

...Riyan...

* * *

Draco lifted an eyebrow and his mouth curled into a smirk.

"Really? Those are the words you chose? _Fucking gorgeous_? Of all the wonderful and amazing words in the English language you chose-"

"-Fine," Harry said, interrupting Draco mid-angry-sentence. "You are attractive. You have a nice bone structure to your face, especially when it comes to your cheekbones which are nicely pronounced but not overly so. Your grey eyes are like ice, but when you look at me with them, I melt a little bit." Harry paused to catch his breath.

Malfoy chose this moment to interrupt Harry by otherwise occupying his lips. Harry didn't react for a moment, his eyes opening wide, before he responded with vigor.

And then it was like the kiss downstairs hadn't ended. Harry felt Draco's tongue slide over his bottom lip and he opened his mouth slightly. After a moment's hesitation, he felt the blond's tongue slip into his mouth and he touched it tentatively with his own tongue.

Harry lifted his arms and wrapped them around Draco's slender body and the blond responded in a similar manner, pulling them both closer together. Harry leaned into the kiss and gently nibbled Draco's lower lip. Draco's hands began to roam Harry's torso, making Harry's stomach turn tiny somersaults.

"Harry!" a voice called from downstairs. Harry recognized the voice as Seamus's and pulled himself away from Draco.

"What?" he shouted back.

"Are you coming to give the cauldron back?" Seamus asked. Harry looked at Draco, who lifted an eyebrow in response.

"You're not helpful," Harry muttered. Malfoy smirked and leaned forward to kiss Harry's neck. Harry shivered as the boy's lips moved gently against his skin. "Uh, I think I'm going to go to bed. I'm pretty tired," he shouted to Seamus. Draco lifted his head and smiled at him, before leaning in and kissing him softly on the mouth.

Harry pulled away, smiled and traced a finger along Draco's cheekbone.

"As I said," he whispered. "Fucking gorgeous." Draco smirked.

"Shut up and kiss me," he said and attacked Harry's mouth.

Harry wasn't sure there had ever been a kiss like the one he was on the receiving end of. Ever. In the history of mankind. It was soft and gentle one second then eager and passionate the next. There were gentle nibbles and harder bites. At one point Malfoy put his tongue in the space between Harry's top lip and his teeth and let it roam there. It was a strange, but entirely pleasurable, experience.

As the kiss progressed, so their hands progressed into unexplored areas. The buttons on Harry's shirt were quickly dispatched of by Draco's adroit fingers, while Harry struggled to undo a single one of Draco's. His belt and trousers soon joined the other garments on the floor.

Harry broke the kiss and looked down. He was wearing just his underwear now, his jeans around his ankles, while Draco was still fully dressed with a mere two buttons undone. He frowned.

"Now this just doesn't seem fair," he said.

"It's not!" Draco crowed, a smirk plastered on his face. "That's why it's great!" And with a flourish, he pulled down Harry's boxers, exposing him, and his now fully extended erection, to the room. Harry shivered in the slight breeze that came through the door and turned his head to notice with a shock that the door was still open.

Draco saw his glance and flicked his wand in the direction of the door. It shut with a soft click.

"Now," he whispered into Harry's neck, pressing his body close. "Where were we?" He ran a hand down Harry's torso and Harry shivered again, this time with anticipation. His hand stopped just above the small line of hair that led down to Harry's crotch. Harry's erection bobbed slightly as he became more aroused.

He brought his hands up and attempted to unbutton Draco's shirt with renewed vigor. The blonde batted his hands away and finished the job himself. Harry brought his hands up again and gently stroked the now bare chest before him.

Malfoy was pale, almost unexpectedly so, and his muscles were more defined than Harry would have imagined. He supposed it came from the extra energy it must take to move inhumanly fast, the way he did from time to time. Once Harry's hand reached Malfoy's belt line, he removed his hand from the creamy flesh and unbuckled the belt, followed by the top button and finally the zipper.

Harry tugged the trousers down, bringing Draco's underwear with them, and stood up again, only to be whacked in the face on the way up by the similarly erect penis that extended from the blond's body.

"Oh bugger," Harry said. "Sorry." But Malfoy was too busy laughing to hear him. Harry quickly righted himself and kicked the trousers out from around his feet. He half considered going to the other side of the room and sulking, but the image of the man in front of him kept his feet firmly planted on the floor. He reached out a tentative hand again and touched Malfoy's hipbone.

The laughter died on Malfoy's lips and he quickly put them back to work - kissing Harry. On the mouth. On the neck. On the mouth again. On the ear, making Harry moan. Back to the mouth. Down the chest. Stopping inches from the place where Harry most wanted Draco's mouth to be. He pushed his hips forward unconsciously, but Malfoy avoided him.

"Not yet, Potter," he said before running his tongue along the space just inside Harry's hip. He stood up again. The lips went back to Harry's mouth, and this time it was Harry who travelled southward, sucking, nibbling, licking as he went, stopping shy of the blond's cock before making his way back up again.

Harry kissed Draco again, trying to do the thing with his tongue that Draco had done to him earlier, but Draco pulled away.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked.

"Don't go near my teeth," Draco said.

"Why not?"

"Doesn't matter, just don't."

"But-" Harry's protestations were silenced as the other boy pushed him in the direction of the bed, knocking the wind out of him. He fell backwards, landing on the soft mattress with a soft _flump_.

In an instant, Draco was on top of him, moving with that same unnatural speed that he exhibited every now and again. Harry could feel his erection pressing against Draco's abdomen and the blond's pressing into his thigh. He leaned up and captured Draco's lips with his own and it started again.

The pressing together. The wanting. The touching. The needing. Draco reached down and in one swift movement, grabbed Harry's penis and began to run his hand up and down it. Harry gasped, trying to quell the rising sensations. He wasn't ready to surrender himself to orgasm yet. He grabbed the other boy's cock with less grace, but produced the same reaction.

Their mouths pressed back together in a quick impassioned rush. Their tongues ran around each other while their hands continued their repetitive actions. Draco's other hand was resting by Harry's head, keeping him elevated above Harry, while Harry's spare hand was running up and down Draco's chest.

Suddenly, Draco pulled away. Harry cocked his head to the side.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Do you think this is going too fast?" the blond boy asked. "I mean, I don't generally fuck on the first date."

"You'd call this a date?" Harry asked.

"No, but don't you agree that we're moving a little too fast? I mean with all the nakedness and stuff?"

"I wouldn't have taken you to be a prude, Malfoy," Harry said. Draco narrowed his eyes. "Okay, prude is the wrong word. Conservative?" Harry didn't like the direction this conversation was going. He wanted the warm friction of Draco's hand to continue moving itself up and down Harry's cock.

"I just don't think we should have sex right now, is all," snapped Draco. "I think we should get to know more about each other. And I also think we that should not be drunk." And with that he took his hand off of Harry's penis. Harry reluctantly did the same. Somehow the evening had gone from amazing to disappointing in the span of thirty seconds.

"So," Harry said once Draco had rolled off of him. "What more do you want to know about me?" Draco sat up and faced Harry, his legs crossed in front of him. After a moment of barely contained frustration, Harry did likewise.

"Why did you kill my father?" Draco asked once Harry was upright.

"You're bringing that up again?" Harry asked, all sexual desire leaving him in an instant. "For fuck's sake, Malfoy. It was an accident. See this scar here?" He twisted his torso and gesticulated at the scar on his back. "Yeah, that was from his sword. Which he attacked me with at the split second that I killed Voldemort." Draco flinched at the name. "And because Moldypants was really _fucking_ powerful, when I killed him, a lot of his power flowed through me. It should have killed me, but it was at that precise moment that your father's sword hit my back, giving the magic somewhere to go. And it killed him instead. As it was I had nearly bled to death by the time anyone from the Ministry found me. So, yeah, I guess you could say that I killed him, but only because he tried to kill me."

"Oh," Draco said. "So it wasn't because of what he was? It wasn't intentional?"

"No, it was an accident," Harry sighed. He lay back on the bed, his legs still crossed, and ran a hand through his hair. He hated talking about the Dark Lord's final moments. It always meant reliving them in his head. He sat up suddenly, something that Draco had said hitting him like a metaphorical ton of bricks. "What did you mean '_Did I kill him because of what he was'_? What was he?"

"Er, nothing," Draco said quickly, looking away from Harry.

"And for that matter," Harry said, suddenly angry. "What are you? Other than an egotistical blonde wizard who is more than a little bit vain about his appearance."

"Nothing. Nope, that's me right to a tee. Blond egotistical wizard. Nothing special." He made a move to get off the bed, but Harry grabbed his wrist.

"Seriously," he said, looking Draco right in the eyes. "If there's anything we need to discuss before we sleep with each other, it's that. You have to learn to trust me, and not just lust after me." Harry was quite pleased at this internal rhyme that he had managed, though he was still angry.

"Fine," Draco said. "But I am going to wait until the morning, when we are both sober. So, for now we should go to sleep."

"But I could just take a sobering up potion!" Harry cried.

"No," Draco said. "This is a daytime, fully rested, completely sober conversation that we're going to have. Okay?" Harry frowned but nodded slowly.

"Fine, but you must promise me that we will talk about it in the morning."

"I promise."

"Alright then, let's get ready for bed, you tease," Harry said. Draco stuck out his tongue.

* * *

Ok, so hopefully you enjoyed the most awkward writing I think I've done in a while. (awkward for me, not you.) PLEASE review. If you enjoyed it, let me know, regale me in compliments, make me feel like it was worth my awkwardness, etc. Please?

Until next time!

...Riyan...


	14. Chapter 14

So, in honour of Prop 8 being overturned (yay!) I'm updating ALL THREE of the stories I'm currently working on. I hope you enjoy!

...Riyan...

* * *

The next morning dawned bright and early, but Harry slept through it. The previous night's activities had exhausted him, and on top of that, his liver needed extra time to metabolize all of the alcohol he had ingested. He awoke around midday, with the familiar throbbing pain in his head that was becoming endemic since moving into Llewellyn. Draco was waiting for him, curled like a cat in the armchair opposite his bed.

"Here," he said, standing up and pushing a tray of food in Harry's direction. "Eat this."

"I-" Harry began, before wincing as his head throbbed particularly intensely. "Ow! My _head_," he exclaimed. Draco rolled his eyes, but put his hand against Harry's forehead and muttered the cure. "Thanks," Harry said gratefully as the pain receded. "And thank you for breakfast! What did I do to deserve breakfast in bed?" He didn't wait for an answer, but began eating quickly, scared that Draco would decide he didn't deserve the breakfast and take it away.

"Did you sleep well?" the blond asked after a moment of looking anywhere but at the disgusting sight which was Harry practically inhaling his food.

"Mmf," Harry said. Talking was difficult around a mouthful of fried egg and toast.

"I beg your pardon?" Draco asked, peering down at Harry with his eyebrows raised in what he thought was a look of amused disgust.

"Yes," Harry said again, once his mouth was empty. "A lovely dreamless sleep," he said with a smile.

"Good," Draco said. "So you're fully rested?" Harry nodded. His mouth was full again. "Good, then we can have the conversation I promised last night." Draco sat back down in the armchair that faced Harry's bed.

"Yes," Harry said, quickly swallowing the food in his mouth. He didn't know where to begin. He started at the most obvious question. "So are you human?" he hazarded.

"Yes, of course," Draco said, rolling his eyes.

"So how do you move so quickly?"

"I'm not sure. The medi-wizards think it has something to do with a very high metabolism, combined with magically enhanced muscles."

"Why are they magically enhanced? Are all wizards muscles like that?" Harry asked. He wondered whether or not he had these untapped speeds within himself.

"No, it's a side effect of my condition."

"What condition is that?"

"Er," Draco said, looking suddenly uncomfortable.

"Draco," Harry said. "Remember what I told you the other day. You have to trust me."

"I know, I know. It's just not something I've really ever shared before. The only people who know are my family, the teachers - and only because we had to tell them - and Blaise.

"Why did you tell Blaise?" Harry asked. He hadn't realised the two ex-Slytherins were so close.

"Well, he's my closest friend," Draco said. "I trust him with some things. I mentioned this the other day. Plus he found out anyway when we slept together."

"What do you mean by that?" Harry asked.

"I had sex with Blaise," Draco replied. "Several times. We dated for a while. I thought you knew this already as I mentioned it the other day."

"I meant, what do you mean by he 'found out when he slept with you'? What did he find out? And is this why you wouldn't sleep with me last night, even though you clearly wanted to?" Draco sighed and massaged his temples with his fingertips. Harry pushed his tray to the side and scrambled gracelessly out of bed. He moved slowly over to where the blond sat and, kneeling down beside him, put a comforting hand on his knee. "Sorry," Harry said softly. "I just want to know more about you. I want to know the things you hide from everyone else." Draco nodded slowly.

"I know you do," he said. "I just don't know why you do."

"Because I feel that if I knew more about you, it would be a lot easier for me to think about how I feel about you. Because right now it's a confused mess of 'I don't know him that well' and 'shouldn't I still hate him after all that he did over all those years?' and 'why am I so inexplicably attracted to him?' and 'how the hell does he move so fast and what are all these dropped hints of him not being normal?' and-"

"-I get the picture," Draco interrupted. "But there are things I want to know about you too. Did you not think that I might have similar thoughts running around my head? Apart from the 'are you normal?' questions. You are definitely normal. Special, yes, but normal compared to me."

"I-" Harry didn't know what to say. He hadn't thought that Draco cared about him at all, let alone that he might have confusing questions milling around his mind.

"Look," Draco said. "The only thing you need to know about me right now is that I am half vampire. And if I bite you, that would be why. The rest of the things you want to know about me, you're just going to have to learn over time."

"What?" Harry asked, incredulity heavy in his tone.

"I said-" Draco began.

"I heard what you said," Harry snapped. "I'm just having difficulty processing it." He ran a hand through his hair. "Half vampire?" Draco nodded. "Wow."

"Yeah," Draco said. "It came as a shock to me too."

"When did you find out?" Harry asked.

"A couple of years ago," came the reply. "I started having these really intense cravings for meat. The medi-wizards say that this comes from a lack of haemoglobin. I need to constantly replace it with haemoglobin that's not mine. So I ate lots of meat, only then just meat wasn't enough and I began having to eat really raw meat, and then finally I had to start getting transfusions. They had hoped that other blood would be enough to keep my strength up because I was only half vampire. It should have worked in theory, except that my body rejected the blood and attacked the foreign cells and broke them down. So eventually they just gave me blood bags to drink, which worked but tasted awful – they were too cold."

"So you don't bite people?" Harry asked.

"Oh, I do," Draco said. "When I can. It's just so much better then donated blood, which always has a plastic taste to it.

"So you _do_ bite people?" Harry asked.

"Yeah," Draco said. "That's what I just said. Hence when we started living together I warned you that I might." Harry strained his mind back to that conversation. It was difficult as he was pretty sure he had been drunk at the time. He nodded slowly.

"I wouldn't really say _warned_… but you did say I should think nothing of it were you to bite me."

"Eh," Draco said, waving off Harry's statement with his hand. "Details."

"But you bite people when you sleep with them?"

"Yes. Acts of passion bring out the more animalistic side of me. Hence we had to discontinue our evening activities and have this conversation. It was best to have it now rather than last night as we're both more level headed and not clouded by passion or alcohol."

"I see," Harry said.

"I needed you to understand all of this before anything happened."

"What about Justin Finch Fletchley?" Harry asked.

"What about him? Draco's tone was filled with unconcealed confusion.

"Well, you slept with him the other day. Did you tell _him_ about your condition?"

"No, I just wiped his memory."

"So I should be happy you're telling me this? And not just wiping my memory? I shouldn't just be scared that you'll now bite me for fun?"

"You should be glad that I'm telling you at all."

"Good point, good point," Harry said quickly. "Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me." Harry reached up and took Draco's hand in his own. "It really means a lot to me."

"Go finish your breakfast," Draco said, brusquely standing up. "This conversation has left me emotionally drained. I need to go get one of my bags." Harry nodded dumbly and stood up.

It wasn't until Draco had left the room and Harry had sat back down on his bed that he thought to perhaps offer Draco his wrist. Or would it be his neck? But Draco was long gone and so Harry sat back down on his bed. He lifted a now cold piece of bacon to his mouth before putting it down, realizing he was no longer hungry.

He stood up, fully intending to go and look for the blond, when he realized that Malfoy probably didn't want to be disturbed. True, he had opened up to Harry, but that didn't mean he was comfortable with sharing the less human side of his condition just yet. Harry sighed and sat back down on the bed. He was at a loss for what to do. He wanted to talk to someone, but he knew that was not an option. There was no one he _could_ talk to. No one else knew Draco's secret, and he was pretty sure Draco wanted to keep it that way.

On second thoughts, there _was_ someone else who knew about it. Blaise. He had to talk to Blaise.

* * *

Well, I hope you enjoyed this. I know lots of people don't want Draco to be a vampire or even half, but it was what I had in mind when I started writing this story about 2 years ago before Twilight got really big and before I'd ever heard of it. (I'd recently finished Dracula and thought it might be fun.) Sorry if you don't like it. It's not going to change. But don't worry. Draco will not be sparkly.

I will try and write more quickly, but my inspiration comes in fits and starts. At least I've now made up a secret code so I can write whatever I want without people being able to read over my shoulder! (unllike last chapter!)

Anyhow. Please review! I love your reviews!

...Riyan...


	15. Chapter 15

Another chapter! Don't you just love summer vacation time? Even though I'm working, I'm writing more. In code so that no one can read this. (I felt it necessary after writing chapter 13 to invent my own secret code in which to write so that no one can understand it but me)

Anyhow. Enjoy.

...Riyan...

* * *

Harry stood up once more and strode over to the bathroom. He turned the shower on and waited for the water to turn hot. As soon as steam began to rise from the stream of water cascading down from the shower head, he stepped under the it.

The shower felt good on Harry's tired body. He knew he had a lot to think about, but he didn't want to do it yet. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the feeling of the water as it cascaded down his back and neck.

Neck. Vampires bit necks. Vampires. Draco was a half vampire. Holy crap. Harry had not seen that one coming. He had thought at the most Draco was on wizard steroids or something, with the biting as some sort of aggressive side effect.

The worst bit about it all was that it made sense. The paleness, the apparent lack of sleep, the speed, the steak for breakfast. It made so much sense and yet it didn't. Why weren't his teeth more pointy? How could he go in the sunlight?

He stopped himself there. It was no use thinking about all of this at a time when he couldn't get any information.

He washed himself quickly, now very eager to talk to Blaise. He hoped the other boy would be able to give him more insight about Draco's condition. He dried himself as fast as he could and then left the bathroom in order to go get dressed. It was almost strange getting dressed without Draco having laid his outfit out for him, but he managed it and left the room in search of the dark haired boy.

Harry found Blaise sitting sideways in a chair in the library. He was reading a Muggle book that Harry had seen in bookstores in Little Whinging called _The Amulet of Samarkand_. He looked up as Harry entered the room and smiled.

"Hi Harry," he said. "How are you this morning?" Harry could swear that he could see a smirk on the boy's face. Did he know about what had happened between Draco and Harry last night? Or was Harry just being paranoid?

"I'm doing well," Harry said.

"Glad to hear it. But then again, I would expect you to be well rested. You and Draco didn't come out with the rest of us last night."

"Yeah," Harry said. "We were tired."

"I'm not surprised," said Blaise. "What with all that unresolved sexual tension you two have going on."

"What?" Harry spluttered.

"You two totally want on each other."

"I beg your pardon!" Blaise grinned.

"You two want to fuck, make love, kiss, cuddle - all that jazz." Harry said nothing, only stared. Blaise smiled again. "It must be very tiring," he said. "Suppressing that all the time." Harry stood there, still staring at Blaise, dumbfounded for a moment before nodding. He didn't know what else to do. "It's alright, he likes you back." At this point, Harry found his voice again.

"I know," he said. Blaise's eyebrows rose in surprise. "And it's because of that that I've come to find you." Harry walked further into the room. "He told me about his condition this morning and I need to talk to someone about it, and as you're one of the only other people that know, I've come to talk to you."

"Blimey," Blaise said. "I didn't realize it was this serious. Normally Draco just selectively alters people's memories after sleeping with them."

"Is it that painful then?" Harry asked.

"You haven't slept with him yet?"

"No, he wanted to warn me about the biting first."

"Damn," Blaise said, shutting his book with a snap. "He's fallen for you hard. He wiped my mind quite a few times post coitally before eventually telling me."

"Oh." Harry was temporarily speechless again.

"But to answer question, no, it doesn't hurt when he bites you. It actually feels very nice."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I mean think about it. Can you think of anything more intimate?"

"That didn't even occur to me," Harry said. "All I thought was fangs, biting, ow."

"You don't know anything about vampires, do you Harry?" Blaise asked. He swung his legs back from the armrest of the chair and sat forward, facing Harry head on.

"I do," Harry said, trying to strain his mind back to Defense Against the Dark Arts, and when that failed when he realized that Lupin hadn't gotten that far the third year and none of his other teachers had bothered with them, Muggle folk lore. "They drink blood."

"Duh."

"And have pointy teeth."

"Wrong."

"And can't go in the sun?"

"Almost right, but mostly wrong."

"They turn other people to vampires by biting them."

"False."

"They have no reflections."

"Wrong again."

"They sparkle?" Harry hazarded, thinking back to a Muggle film trailer he'd seen on TV before coming back to school. At this Blaise burst into laughter.

"Vampires? Sparkle? _Why on earth would they sparkle_? That is so ridiculous!" Harry frowned and crossed his arms.

"They turn into bats."

"Nope. Not unless they're Anamagi."

"They're immortal."

"No."

"A stake through the heart kills them."

"A stake through the heart would kill anyone," Blaise said.

"But it's the _only_ way to kill them," Harry said.

"No," Blaise replied, shaking his head slowly.

"Silver burns them."

"Draco would be very sad if that were the case."

"They're repelled by crosses." Blaise shook his head. "Garlic?"

"Draco's favourite food is Chicken Kiev." Harry looked puzzled. "It has lots of garlic in it."

"Okay," Harry said after a long pause in which he failed to remember anything else he thought he knew about vampires. "So, I don't know anything about them. Please, enlighten me." He pulled another armchair close to where Blaise sat and slumped down into it.

"Vampires were first found in-"

"-I don't need the history lesson," Harry snapped. "I just want the facts."Blaise frowned at him, obviously put out. "Fine, give me the history."

"No, you don't want it," Blaise said, crossing his arms and sticking his nose in the air. Harry sighed.

"Please tell me about the history, Blaise," he said.

"Eh, maybe later. It's not really important." He gave a short laugh. "So, where to start with your vampire education?"

"Er, they drink blood?" Harry hazarded.

"Yes, but you already knew that. However, I should point out that they can also eat normal food too. Which is, I hear, a common Muggle misconception."

"So they're not dead? Or rather undead?" Harry asked.

"No, of course not," Blaise said, with a small laugh. "And they can go in the sun. They sunburn very quickly due to to an inability to make large amounts of melanin - it's not so bad that they're albino - but enough not to tan and therefore burn easily. They also don't have pointy teeth - at least not permanently at any rate. When they need to feed or are aroused, their canine teeth elongate."

"But you don't get turned into a vampire by being bitten?" Harry prompted.

"That's right. Vampirism comes about through a viral infection. The virus enters the host, multiplies and lives in the cytoplasm of cells, which means it can only be transferred through cells with cytoplasm." Harry frowned.

"What does that mean?"

"It means that saliva from a bite will not pass on the infection as saliva doesn't have any cells in it and if the odd cheek cell does get in, the body's immune system can quickly destroy it before one gets infected. Generally infection comes about through a person being drained of blood and given the vampire's blood to revive them. This blood contains white blood cells, which have cytoplasm and therefore contain the virus. The virus then multiplies in the cells of the new host. Vampirism is only genetic through the mother as it is only the mother's cytoplasm that gets passed along. This is called infectious heredity and is only an extranuclear inheritance. The virus creates its own proteins which destroy haemoglobin and melanin and enhance muscles and other cells, giving the host all of the symptoms of vampirism."

"So, how does this mean that Draco is only half vampire?" Harry asked. "If it's nothing to do with genes or heredeity in that sense and the virus multiplies, how can he still just be half?"

"It's not possible to be half, but he's in denial. When he first found out about his condition, there wasn't a lot known about how the virus worked, or even that it _was_ a virus at all."

"Oh," Harry said. "Wait, so his mother was - is - a vampire? Not his father?" Blaise nodded. "How did it happen?"

"It's not my place to say," Blaise said. "I only feel comfortable discussing the symptoms and cause. The rest is very personal and so you have to ask Draco yourself."

"Okay," Harry said. "What else is there to know about vampires then?"

"That's mostly it. They are generally the same as the rest of us - merely faster with teeth that grow and a dependency on others' blood to stay alive. They heal faster than most as well due to the virus's help with creating proteins. Beyond that, they're still human."

"And yet we call them vampires," Harry said.

"And yet we used to call people with leprosy lepers. People fear what they don't understand and before Muggles improved their science, forcing wizards to do the same, we had no idea what caused some people to be blood drinking insomniacs."

"Wait, they don't sleep?" Harry asked.

"Oh, no," Blaise said. "They do sleep, but due to their physical enhancements they require only around 2 hours of sleep per night - a fraction of what the rest of us need!" He laughed. "An extra six odd hours a day. Imagine what you could accomplish with that time!" Harry said nothing, but nodded distractedly. So Draco didn't sleep much. He wondered what the blond did with all the extra time. Did he watch Harry sleep? Did he do homework? There were so many questions he wanted to ask Draco now, but he didn't know where the boy was. And there were other things he wanted to do with him. Other less PG things that they hadn't managed to do last night, even though the thought of being bitten did still frighten him a bit. He supposed it would be like doing anything else for the first time. Scary, but only because of the newness of it. At least he hoped that would be the case.

He bade goodbye to Blaise after thanking him for all of the information and left the dark haired boy to his book. He did not know what to do with himself and so wandered the corridors of the house, lost in thought, until the ring of the doorbell snapped him out of his reverie. He hurried to the front hall to open the door, but found that Draco, unsurprisingly, had beaten him to it. Ernie MacMillan stood on the front porch, holding several pieces of folded parchment. Harry heard the word party mentioned and his stomach thrilled with excitement. A moment later, Draco thanked Ernie and closed the door.

"Did he just say party?" Harry asked, hurrying over to his roommate. Draco nodded. "Is there a theme?" Another nod. "Is it a good one?" Nod. "What is it?"

"Muggle professions. I think I'll be a sewage worker."

"What, really?"

"No, you idiot. That was a joke. Obviously. Now come on, let's go and inform the others."

* * *

So hopefully you enjoyed that. Please tell me if you did. I'm quite proud of my description of vampirism. It took me a while to work out exactly what I wanted it to be, so hopefully it's good. (I even did research. Oh yes.) Again, please let me know.

And now I'm going to sleep as it's past my bedtime and I have work tomorrow morning. Well. In a few hours. Oh what I do for you guys...

'Til next time!

...Riyan...


	16. Chapter 16

I'm so sorry for the delay in writing. Here are 3001 words to keep you all placated until the next chapter comes out! :)

Anyhow. On with the story!

...Riyan...

* * *

"So," Harry said once he and Draco had reached their room again after circulating the house with news of the party. "What profession are you actually thinking of dressing as?"

"I don't know yet," Draco said. "I'm trying to think of something that would be immediately identifiable. I mean, there are so many professions were people just go in normal clothes. What about yourself? What are you going to be, Potter?" Harry rolled his eyes as Draco addressed him by his last name. He would have thought after last night they were for sure on first name terms, but apparently not.

"I was thinking something like police officer or something like that." Draco snorted.

"You would," he said. Harry frowned in annoyance but did not rise to the bait. "You should be something less predictable."

"How about a fireman?"

"Ooh, a hot fireman," Draco said. "You could definitely pull that off." He smirked at Harry who blushed scarlet. "On second thoughts, you shouldn't be that."

"What? Why not?" Harry asked. Draco confused him to no end.

"Well, I'll be forced to look at you all night and that would require a hell of a lot of self control, which I don't think I can be bothered to exert. Which would then lead to me ravishing you in the middle of the party. Which would be indecent." Harry laughed.

"Am I that irresistible?" he asked.

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Why 'unfortunately'?"

"Have you not realized yet that we share all of our classes?" Harry thought for a moment before nodding. "Not to mention a room." Harry nodded again. "With you distracting me all of the time, my grades are going to suffer."

"Oh," Harry said. "Sorry."

"It's not your fault that I'm inexplicably attracted to you." Harry didn't know what to say and so said nothing. He looked at his hands, which he twisted nervously together. "Hey." Harry looked up to see the blond walking over to him. "I'm sorry to have made you awkward." Draco put a hand up to Harry's face and ran it down his cheek. Harry turned into the touch.

"It's okay," he whispered. "I just don't know what to say. I've never had conversations like this before."

"I haven't either. All my relationships have just been lust driven. But with you, I want it to be different." Harry's stomach turned over in delight. "Hence, I told you about my condition instead of fucking you senseless and then wiping your memory."

"I'm glad you did," Harry said. "You might have been unpleasantly surprised at how difficult I am to mind wipe."

"What?"

"As in, it doesn't really work. And then you would have had some serious explaining to do."

"Oh," Draco said. "Well, I'm glad that didn't happen then."

"Shh," Harry said. "Enough talking." He leaned in and pressed his lips against Draco's. Draco pulled away. Harry looked at him, confusion etched on his face.

"Potter," Draco said. "There is not enough time right now for those kinds of shenanigans. We have some costumes to think up." Harry pouted. "Don't look at me with the puppy dog eyes. They don't work on me." Harry's face remained the same. "Oh, come on, Potter. I want you to be looking forward to coming home with me all night." Harry frowned but nodded grudgingly.

"Fine," he said, stepping away from the blond. He pulled out his wand and waved it over himself. Instantly he was wearing a fireman's trousers with suspenders and a hat, but no shirt over his suddenly oiled body. "So not this costume?" he asked, turning around to look innocently at Draco who suddenly had longer canine teeth than he had before. They stuck out over his bottom lip. Harry thought they looked kind of cute and wondered how he had never noticed them before.

"No," Draco said, gritting his teeth. His hands were clenched so hard his knuckles were white.

"What about this one?" Harry asked, waving his wand again. His clothes changed to a clown's costume, complete with full face make up. Draco screamed and dived into a corner of the room where he stayed, cowering until Harry changed back into his normal clothes and went to find him.

"Draco?" he asked, prodding the blond on the back. Draco turned his head and peered at Harry through his fingers. Finding him no longer in clown garb, he slowly unfolded himself. "I take it you don't like clowns?"

"I hate them," Draco said shakily. "They are terrifying. Absolutely fucking terrifying." Harry shrugged but didn't press the matter.

He flopped down on his bed, already out of ideas for a costume after Draco had shot down his policeman idea. Draco sat down more gracefully on the armchair that Harry always woke to find him occupying. For the second time that day, Harry wondered what Draco did with all the extra time he gained from not having to sleep for eight hours. If he did his work then, then his grades wouldn't drop as those were times when Harry wouldn't distract him.

"So, that was a no on the police man?" Harry asked to break the silence.

"I mean, you could be a policeman if you wanted, I just think that there are costumes that are less likely to be used by others. I mean, how many Muggle professions do most wizards know? Very few – one of them being police men. You lived with Muggles for years. You of all people should be able to think up something better." Harry frowned. Draco was right. Damn. What else was there?

"Well, what are you going to be then?" he asked.

"I don't know, I'm still thinking!" Draco cried. Harry stuck his tongue out.

"But not sewage worker."

"No, you ninny," Draco snapped. "I said that was a joke."

"Ten points to Slytherin for the intelligent insult."

"Oh, bugger off."

"Fine," Harry said. He made to stand up, but a glare from the blond made him sit down again. "I could be a scientist," he said after a long pause.

"Boring."

"No it's not! They do really cool things!" Harry protested.

"I meant costume wise. You might as well be a doctor. Then more people might understand the white coat." Harry scowled, but could see Draco had a point, unless Harry dressed as a mad scientist, which he didn't want to do. His hair was crazy enough as it was.

"Okay," Harry said after another long pause. "How about an FBI agent? I could wear a bullet proof vest with FBI in big letters on the back, a baseball cap also saying FBI, aviators, and a utility belt!" he had seen them on Dudley's television. He knew it was a very American Muggle profession, but it was the closest he could get to policeman without actually being a policeman.

"You're a little bit too excited about that utility belt," Draco said. "But I like the costume idea."

"I can put lots of things in the utility belt though! And I can put even more in my bullet-proof vest because it will have lots of pockets."

"Pray tell me," Draco said, leaning forward in his chair. "What the hell are you going to put in these pockets and on your utility belt?"

"Well, in order to make my costume more realistic, I'll put a squirt gun painted black in the gun holster on my vest. This will be filled with butterscotch schnapps that I can squirt into peoples' mouths. And then I'll put a set of handcuffs on my belt, along with a bunch of other things." Draco raised an eyebrow but did not comment on Harry's enthusiasm. He was too concerned with what his own costume would be.

Though he wouldn't admit it out loud, he thought that Harry's idea of a squirt gun filled with liquor was ingenious. Perhaps he could be something that required a gun also. That ruled out a lot of things, such as doctor, pilot and male model, which was sad, because he liked all of those ideas. He especially liked the idea of being a doctor. He had always thought that of all of the Muggle professions, that was the most interesting, because doctors managed to fix people without magic, and some of the things that they managed to do were like magic they were so amazing. "Draco?" Harry asked, snapping the blond out of his reverie.

"What?" he snapped.

"I just asked if you needed any help thinking up your costume."

"No," Draco said. "I don't. I'm going to be a doctor, and to be cooler than your squirt gun filled with alcohol, I'm going to have syringes filled with alcohol." He nodded his head in satisfaction, then stood up and left the room. Harry sighed. He always had to be dramatic, didn't he?

He returned a moment later, sitting gracefully back down on his armchair.

"Back already?" Harry asked.

"I realized there wasn't much else to do right now," he said with a sigh. "There isn't a whole lot of time before dinner and after that it's going to be time to start getting ready for the party." He sighed again and ran a hand through his hair. "Do you just want to snog until then?"

"I beg your pardon?" Harry asked.

"Do you want to lay around and kiss each other until dinner?"

"I know what snog means, Draco," Harry said. "The offer just kind of came out of nowhere." Draco shrugged.

"We don't have to," he said. "I just thought it might be nice to have some more sober kissing under our belt."

"Don't get me wrong," Harry said quickly. "I want to, I was just surprised at the bluntness of your asking. That and I can't abide the word snog. It just sounds so disgusting." The blond laughed and with lightning fast movements made his way onto the bed with Harry. Harry blinked in surprise but had no time to say anything as Draco pressed their lips together.

Harry had to admit that sober kissing with Draco was even better than drunken kissing. Because they were sober, it meant that Draco must like him, even though the blond had already admitted to that, and the kisses were less sloppy. In his drunken haze, Harry had never been fully able to appreciate how amazing Draco's kisses were, and stone cold sober they made him feel drunk again.

Harry was just starting to get very into their before dinner activity when the dinner bell rang. Draco was up in a flash, leaving Harry still dazed on the bed. The blond straightened out his shirt and smoothed the wrinkles in his trousers before looking expectantly at Harry. Harry grumbled and sat up, unhappy that the blond was no longer in his arms. He sighed and scrambled gracelessly out of bed, making Draco smirk at his inelegance.

"Come on, Harry," Draco said, holding out his hand. "Let's go eat!" Harry smiled and took the proffered hand and Draco whisked them downstairs at his usual pace, which left Harry speechless. He wasn't quite sure what had just happened. He wondered if Draco always moved so fast when he was using his supernatural speed, and if so how he managed to turn at the right times. The whole journey had seemed like a blur to Harry.

"About time you two!" Seamus said from his place at the far end of the table. "Hurry up and sit down. I'm bloody starving!" Harry nodded and sat down at his allotted place. Draco sat down next to him. As soon as his rear end touched the seat, Dobby came through the door of the kitchen, laden with plates. Once he was clear of the door, he threw the plates into the air. He clicked his fingers and the plates flew onto the table. He clicked his fingers again and the glasses on the table filled themselves slowly from the bottom up.

"Dobby hopes that the meal is enjoyable," he squeaked as he backed out of the room. Seamus didn't need any more of an invitation and began to eat with gusto. Everyone else follows suit and the dinner passed quickly, with all of the boys talking excitedly about the upcoming party - though none of them discussed their costumes. They agreed to meet in the hall ten minutes after the slated start time of the party, that way they could arrive fashionably - but not obnoxiously - late.

Draco whisked Harry upstairs again before kissing him softly on the nose and leaving him claiming that he needed to don his costume alone as he had come up with something better and top secret. Harry thought about calling after him, but realized it wouldn't be worth it. He sighed and pulled out his wand, waving it over himself as he turned to face the mirror. He was suddenly clothed in all black with a bulletproof vest on his top half which read FBI in yellow letters across the breast and back, and black trousers on the bottom. He had black combat boots on his feet, which ended under the cuff of his trousers and a utility belt around his waist. On the belt there was a holster, which held a black squirt gun. He waved his wand over his head, creating a black hat with FBI on it in yellow on his head, before heading downstairs to fill the squirt gun.

Once he had returned, he continued work on his costume, adding hand cuffs to the utility belt and a black baton that squeaked when you hit someone with it. He also added a shot glass and a flask, along with Muggle party poppers, a flashlight, a camera and a place to hold his wand. He surveyed himself in the mirror and smiled. To say that Harry was excited would be an understatement. His costume looked great and he had lots of party tricks up his sleeve, or rather his utility belt.

He nodded at his reflection, conjured a pair of sunglasses which he placed over his eyes and then put his wand into its special slot on his belt. Then he checked his watch and, seeing that it was almost time to leave for the party, headed downstairs. He was the first one there and he pulled out his flashlight to "investigate" the hallway while he waited for the others.

He didn't have to wait long. With a clomping noise that sounded like an elephant was walking down the stairs, Neville arrived. He was wearing khaki shorts and a different khaki coloured shirt. He had a floppy tan hat on his head and green Hunter wellington boots on. He had dirt smudged on his face and he was also wearing a utility belt, but his contained gloves, a trowel, a small spade and various seed packets. He clutched a large green watering can in his left hand.

"Hiya Harry," he said excitedly. "Can you guess what I'm meant to be?" He grinned widely and turned around so that Harry could see the pair of gardening shears tucked into the back of his belt.

"A gardener?" Harry hazarded. Neville nodded, beaming. His watering can sloshed. Harry pointed at it. "What's in there?" he asked.

"Water," Neville said sheepishly. "I figured then if it spilled it wouldn't make a big sticky mess on the floor." Harry nodded.

"Sounds sensible." Neville smiled, then looked up as more footsteps were heard on the stairs.

It was Blaise, dressed as a fireman, in an almost exact replica of Harry's sexy fireman costume from earlier. His bare chest glistened in the light from the chandelier, covered in sooty streaks, as was the rest of his exposed skin. He grinned at them from under his fireman's hat. Behind him was Seamus, wearing a tuxedo and a rakish grin. He had a fake gun in his hand.

"Seamus, what are you meant to be?" Neville asked.

"James Bond," the Irishman said. He winked. "Don't I look dashing?" Neville nodded, unsure of what else to say. Harry glanced down at his watch. It was almost time to go. Where were Draco and Zacharias?

As though he had sensed Harry's thoughts, Zach wandered out of the kitchen. He was wearing scrubs, a scrub cap and plastic gloves.

"Doctor?" asked Blaise.

"Nah, surgeon," Zach replied. "It's a bit of a lazy costume really. It's just a pair of scrubs and this hat, but it was the only thing I could come up with." He shrugged.

"Looks good though," Seamus said. The blond boy grinned.

"Thanks," he said. Harry looked at his watch again.

"Now, where the hell is Draco?" he asked aloud. There was a blur in the air beside him and the blond appeared.

"You rang?" he said with an impish grin. He was dressed all in black with a white priest's collar. His hair was slicked back and he was holding a bottle of holy water. Seamus took one look at his outfit and began to snigger. "What's so funny?"

"You're just the last person I would expect to be a priest," Seamus said.

"And what's that meant to mean?" Draco snapped.

"Well, you're far too Slytherin to be a priest. You guys are all booze and sex and having a good time." He shrugged. Draco nodded slowly.

"Fair enough," he said. He turned and grinned slyly at Harry. "Shall we go then? It's hardly a party if the Party House aren't there yet!" They laughed and followed him out into the night.

* * *

Next up: the party!

What's going to happen? Will Ron get into a fight with Zach over Hermione? Will Draco manage to keep his hands off of Harry? Will Seamus make everyone extremely jealous with his dancing skills? Will Neville grow an award winning batch of dirigible plums? Stay tuned to find out!

And please review! :)

...Riyan...


	17. Chapter 17

Hey guys, I realise it's been an age since I updated. Life has been crazy busy. But here's another chapter! I do feel bad that I don't update more quickly, I just have to prioritise and so my school work must come first.

Anyhow, on with the story!

...Riyan...

* * *

The air outside was crisp and there was a new moon floating above them in the dark sky. Harry shivered. His costume did not include long sleeves and the chilly night air blew around him in the slight breeze. He glanced around at the rest of his house. They all looked as cold as he felt, other than Draco. Perhaps it was a vampire thing, or perhaps he just didn't feel the cold as much as the rest of them due to long years spent living in Slytherin. He looked at Blaise, who was shirtless in his fireman's costume. He had goose-pimples on his arms, but other than that looked okay.

Harry sighed and picked up his pace. Not only was he cold, but he was impatient to get to the party. He wanted to show off his costume and see what other people had come up with, and a small part of him wanted to show Draco off as his costume was highly inventive for a wizard. More importantly, he was looking forward to later in the evening when he and Draco could finally be alone together.

As they neared the house of the party, the sound of loud music began to reach them. Harry felt a thrill in the pit of his stomach as they reached the porch at the front of the house. The music was overwhelmingly loud now and Harry found himself nodding along with the song. He was pretty sure they were playing Muggle music as he faintly recognized it as something Dudley had blasted through the house the last time Harry had seen him. The music choice made sense, Harry thought, as this was a Muggle inspired party.

He pulled the door open and they made their way inside. The entrance hall was decorated to look like an underground station in London. There were turnstiles in front of the two doors on either side of the entrance hall which lead to the rest of the house and a large sign reading South Kensington hung on the wall directly facing the door. Two other signs, pointing in the two directions of the turnstiles read District Line and Piccadilly line, with a picture underneath each detailing the stations on each line. The station names had been replaced with room names, and each line started with the room which the other ended with. The upstairs, it seemed, was off-limits.

Through one door, Harry could see the dining room, which was set up as a pub, with a full bar and various small tables, and through the other was what appeared to be a room for dancing, which was decorated like an operating room, complete with an operating table in the middle. Harry laughed quietly to himself. Trust the house that Ernie and Ron lived in to have made the dance floor as inappropriate as possible. He sighed and followed his housemates through the turnstile on the left to the pub.

"Drinks are on me!" Seamus shouted.

"They're free, you idiot," came a voice from the door. Harry looked over to find a tall man with dark, well coiffed hair. He was wearing a white bell-bottomed jumpsuit of sorts which was adorned with sequins and rhinestones. He had blue suede shoes on. Harry took a step closer to the man, trying to figure out who it was and spotted orange eyebrows under the black hair.

"Ron?" he asked in disbelief. The man grinned and nodded. "Are you dressed as Elvis?" Ron nodded. "But Ron, Elvis isn't a profession. He was just a famous Muggle."

"Wrong on two counts, Harry," Ron said, still grinning. "I'm an Elvis impersonator, which _is_ a Muggle profession, and Elvis was a wizard. He didn't die in the bathroom of natural causes. He died duelling Grindelwald." Harry frowned and cocked his head to the side. "Elvis challenged Grindelwald to a duel after the aforementioned dark wizard stepped on his blue suede shoes, and everyone knows you do _not_ step on Elvis's blue suede shoes without consequences." Harry said nothing, just nodded slowly.

"Okay," he said after a long moment of silence. Then he shrugged. "I need a drink." He turned back to the bar and waved at the house elf bartender. The elf scampered over. He was about to order a drink when Draco came up behind him.

"Give him the same as me, Frizzle," the blond said. The elf nodded and began to busy himself with bottles and a cocktail shaker.

"And what is it that you have?" Harry asked, turning to face Draco. The blond tapped his nose and winked. Harry sighed and turned back to the bar where Frizzle had finished making his drink and had placed it on the counter. He picked it up and sipped it. It was good: sweet but tart, minty, and very strong. "What is this?" he asked again.

"An absinthe mojito."

"Is there such a thing? Or did you make it up?"

"Oh it exists," Draco said. "It's just not overly common. Now come on," he said taking Harry's free hand in his. "Let's go explore." He dragged Harry through the nearest door and they found themselves in a room filled with desks and computers with a path cleared through the middle of the room. The screens were all blank and there were few people in the room, so they figured that the room was more for show than anything else. As they moved through it though, Harry kept it in the back of his mind as a possible place to kiss Draco without much disturbance.

The next room was decorated like a fire department, with poles spread throughout the room. There was loud music in this room, and people were already starting to dance up against and on the poles. Harry laughed as Draco dropped his hand and went over to one of the poles. He swung himself around the pole a couple of times before motioning for Harry to come and join him. Harry shook his head and began to move towards the next room. Draco made a face but followed him. Once he had caught up with the brunet, he whispered in Harry's ear that they would be going back there later. Harry grinned and then began to laugh as he saw the decor of the next room.

It was a classroom plastered wall to wall in blackboards. The rules of many drinking games were written on the boards in multicolored chalk and there were desks covered in drinking apparatus. Draco laughed and pointed at one of the boards. Harry glanced over at what he was looking at and frowned.

"Do you think if we played now you would understand the rules?" Draco asked, still grinning. Harry turned away from the offending blackboard.

"I'm not sure I'll ever really understand the rules of Kings," he said. Draco rolled his eyes.

"You're just not trying," he said. "C'mon! Let's get some people in here and play properly for once. And by properly I mean not already plastered. It's more a game for _getting_ drunk than for playing while already quite past it." Harry sighed but sat down at a table that had a pack of cards on it. Draco left the room in search of more people and Harry took another sip of his drink. He looked over at the rules, trying to understand how they worked.

He understood now that seven was heaven and that meant put your hand in the air and that you had to do this before everyone else did. The rest of the list however was a mystery. And this set of rules seemed to be different from the last time he had played! Why did it all have to be so hard? So that he would have to drink. Of course.

Draco saved him from his thoughts by coming back into the room. Behind him followed Elvis, a sexy nurse, a gardener, James Bond, a chef and what appeared to be a prostitute. Or rather Ron, Hermione, Neville, Seamus, Ernie and Pansy.

"Nice costume, Hermione," Harry said. Hermione smiled.

"Thank you, Harry," she giggled. Clearly she had already had more to drink than Harry had. "I knew that Zach was going as a doctor, so I thought I'd match him." Harry nodded.

"Do all nurses have skirts that short?" he asked innocently. Hermione said nothing, but her cheeks flushed red.

"Alright then," Draco said, sitting down at the table. "Let's go over the rules once for Harry's sake." Harry scowled but said nothing as the rest of the table laughed their agreement. "I see you use different rules than the Slytherins." He looked at Ron and Ernie who nodded.

"Our rules are the basic rules of Kings," Ernie said.

"Yeah," Ron agreed. "They're more about drinking and less about dares and embarrassing yourself." Harry decided he liked this much better, even if he still didn't know the rules. He was far too sober for any kind of shirtless dancing. Not too sober to kiss Draco, but he didn't have to be drunk for that now.

"So when someone draws an Ace," Ernie continued. "Everyone has to drink in a circle, starting with the person who drew the card, and no one can stop until the person to their right stops drinking." Harry frowned. That sounded like it could be difficult with a strong drink.

"Two is you," Ron said. "Pick someone to drink. Three is me. You drink. Four is floor and you touch the floor. Five is guys – guys drink – while six is chicks and the girls drink. Seven is-"

"-Heaven!" Harry interrupted, putting his hand up in the air. Ron laughed and carried on his explanation.

"Eight – pick a date. Choose someone to drink with you. Nine – bust a rhyme. Everyone goes around in a circle saying a sentence each and they have to rhyme. First person out has to drink."

"We're strict on this," Ernie interjected. "Full sentences are necessary." Ron rolled his eyes.

"Ten is categories. Here you pick a category of things and, again, go around saying things in that category until someone can't. Jack – make a rule. Question master. We go back and forth, asking questions until someone answers one."

"Wait a sec," Harry said, holding up his hand. "What does that mean?"

"We'll demonstrate," Hermione said. "What?" she asked as Ron looked over at her. "It's the easiest way to explain this."

"Fine. I'll start," Ron said. "Ernie, what time is it?"

"Hermione, why are you dressed as a nurse?" the chef asked.

"Ron, why aren't you talking to me?" Hermione shot at Ron who winced as though she had actually hit him.

"And you get the picture!" Ron said, turning his head pointedly away from Hermione. "And finally the King is three fingers of Never Have I Ever."

"But it says King's Cup on the board," Harry said, pointing at the offending rule.

"Ah," said Ernie. "Yes. It says that because those are the official rules. But King's Cup involves getting a cup and mixing people's drinks in it which quite frankly is disgusting, so we play this other rule instead." He puffed up his chest and looked around the table as though daring anyone to question this.

"Right then!" Draco said, clapping the two people next to him on the back. "Let's play! I'll start."

"No, you won't," Ernie said. "The rules state that the youngest person has to start, and that means Harry does." Harry screwed up his face in horror, but once the cards were spread into a circle, picked up the first one and turned it over. He breathed a sigh of relief and shot his hand in the air. Lucky number seven.

Draco's turn was next as he was sitting on Harry's left and he drew a Jack.

"No saying the word 'drink'," he said, grinning around at everyone as Ron groaned.

* * *

OK So I will TRY my hardest to update more quickly than last time... No promises though. It's coming up to the very stressful part of the school year. Please review! Your lovely comments encourage me to no end!

...Riyan...


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